Theodore had just begun to smile when the low sound of an engine reached the lawn from beyond the trees. A second engine followed, then a third. Several witnesses turned toward the trees. Theodore did not. He remained at the edge of the platform. The officiant waited until the witnesses had heard Angelique’s answer, then returned to the service card.
“We proceed.”
The woman with the silver tray stepped forward. The groom’s ring lay at the center of it.
“Mr. Collins,” said the elder. “You will take the ring.”
Louis did not move.
“Take it,” Theodore said.
The engine noise grew louder. Louis heard engines cut out, several doors open, and many boots strike the drive. Somewhere beyond the hedges, a man shouted a command. One of Theodore’s armed men at the far edge of the lawn turned toward the trees. Another near the chapel hall doors raised his rifle across his chest. Wells turned toward the drive.
Theodore raised his voice for the first time. “The ring. Now!”
Wells stepped onto the platform and took the ring from the tray himself. He grabbed Louis by the arm. Louis twisted away, and his right knee buckled. He staggered and swung the side of the cane into Wells’s hand. The ring spun across the platform and landed in the grass near the first row.
Wells caught Louis’s wrist before he could swing again. Louis twisted against him. His right leg folded, and pain drove the breath from his lungs. Wells locked one arm around his chest and held his wrist with the other. Louis’s injured leg gave way, and Wells took his full weight.
A figure in a dark field uniform appeared between the trees. Another followed, then several more. Miriam gripped one hand with the other in her lap. Jennifer looked at her father, then toward the advancing soldiers. Gladice remained forward in her chair, her face pale, watching them enter the lawn. Both guards behind her had turned toward the trees.
The soldiers reached the edge of the lawn. They carried their rifles low and spread across the grass. Two moved toward the western hedge, two toward the chapel side, and another pair went directly to the guards behind Gladice. Theodore stepped down onto the first step.
“Hold your fire,” he said.
The soldier nearest the western hedge raised one hand.
“Weapons down. Now.”
A soldier near the chapel repeated the order. A third, near Gladice’s row, said, “Off her. Step back.”
Theodore’s men hesitated. One of the soldiers beside Gladice seized the nearer guard’s rifle before he could react. The second guard raised his hands while another soldier took his weapon. Wells still held Louis upright while the soldiers disarmed the guards around the lawn. Angelique remained beside him.
Only then did the last man enter the lawn. He approached along the gravel walk beneath the oaks with several soldiers around him. He was tall and straight-backed, dressed in a dark service coat. Silver showed at his temples above a lean, severe face. His eyes were pale. He surveyed the platform, the witnesses, and the guards being disarmed around the lawn. Then he looked at Theodore.
“By order of the Supreme Covenant Council of the Holy States of Dixie,” he said, “this property is now under Covenant military jurisdiction.”
The elder lowered the Bible. Wells released Louis. Louis caught himself on the cane while Wells moved to the edge of the platform. The man stopped beside the front row.
“General Nathaniel Vance,” Theodore said. “You choose an unusual hour to trespass.”
Vance’s expression did not change.
“Secretary Theodore Hargrove,” he said. “By emergency directive of the Supreme Covenant Council, your authority on this property is suspended pending review. You are confined to house limits effective immediately.”
Theodore’s face cooled.
“There has been some misunderstanding,” he said. “The detainees are under lawful protective custody. This house is secure. The ceremony concerns internal order and the regularization of a politically sensitive matter already made public abroad. If the Council has questions, it may direct them to me through the proper channels.”
“Negative,” Vance said. “You are under suspicion of acting without Council authority in matters of foreign policy and unauthorized use of state resources. You will not make further decisions regarding the detainees. They are now in military custody.”
Miriam rose from the front row and gripped the back of the chair in front of her. Jennifer stood beside her.
“This is unnecessary,” Miriam said. Her voice remained calm, though the final word came out strained.
Vance turned to her and inclined his head.
“Ma’am,” he said, “your husband will answer before the Council. Until that time, you and your daughter will remain here under supervision. Do not interfere with military operations.”
He turned back to Theodore and motioned toward him. Two soldiers approached the platform. They mounted the steps and stopped on either side of Theodore.
“Sir, you will come with us,” one of them said.
Theodore did not move. He stood his ground and said, “You will be censured for this. You have disturbed a ceremony of state importance and violated protocols of—“
“I have my orders,” Vance said.
One soldier took Theodore by the arm. The other moved to his opposite side. They led him down from the platform. That was what truly ended the wedding.
Vance faced the witnesses and the platform.
“This ceremony is suspended,” he said. “The principals are removed from private household jurisdiction effective immediately.”
The officiant bowed his head and shut the Bible. One soldier took the silver tray from the woman at the platform steps and folded the linen over the remaining ring. Another searched the grass for the ring Louis had knocked away. Two soldiers escorted the elder away. Along the hedge line, soldiers turned Theodore’s guards toward the hedge, searched them, and removed their sidearms, spare magazines, radios, knives, and keys.
Miriam remained standing. Jennifer stood beside her mother, gripping one hand with the other at her waist, and looked from Vance to the platform.
Vance turned to the officer at his shoulder. “Secure the radio room, the telephone exchange, and the server room,” he said. “Then the house library, armory, motor court, and all side exits. No one in or out without my leave.”
The officer nodded and moved away, speaking into his shoulder microphone as he went. Several soldiers moved toward the south gallery. Others headed toward the west side of the house.
Vance looked back to the platform. A soldier approached Louis and held out a hand without touching him. Another held out a hand to Angelique. At the foot of the platform, the soldiers beside Gladice stepped back from her chair.
Gladice rose at once. She looked at Louis and Angelique. Louis took the first step with the cane.
The soldier at his side said, quietly, “Easy, sir.”
Louis descended one step at a time. Angelique descended from the other side of the platform, the veil still draped over her shoulders. When she reached the grass, Gladice moved toward them. A soldier extended an arm and stopped her.
“Not yet,” the man said.
Vance crossed from the front row to the foot of the platform and stopped before the three of them. He looked first at Louis’s cane, then at Angelique’s veil, and finally at Gladice.
“Mr. Collins,” he said. “Miss Bourbon. Miss Simington.”
“General,” Louis replied.
Vance inclined his head. “I am instructed to inform you that you are now under the authority of the Army of the Covenant. You will be transferred to a secure quarter for the night. Food and rest will be provided. You are not prisoners, but you will not leave military supervision until the Council has concluded its decision. You are not to be approached by members of this household except under my authority. Do you understand?”
Louis said, “I understand.”
Angelique nodded. Gladice did the same. Vance turned to the soldiers.
“Escort them to the south wing. The second-floor guestroom and its adjacent bath. Secure the hall at both ends. Two guards outside the door. No visitors.”
The men nodded.
Vance looked at Louis’s cane. “The cane can stay,” he said. “A medic will see you upstairs.” Then he turned to Angelique. “You don’t need that anymore.”
Angelique stood still for a moment. Then she raised her hands and pulled the veil pins free. Her fingers shook. The lace slipped back from her face and collapsed across her shoulders. She held it there, then released it. The veil fell onto the grass beside the hem of her dress. Jennifer made a small sound from the front row. Miriam closed a hand around her arm and kept her beside the chair.
Vance glanced at the fallen veil.
“You may go,” he said.
The soldiers beside them opened a path toward the house. Louis started forward beside Angelique. Gladice took her place on Angelique’s other side. They crossed the lawn together. Behind them, soldiers dismantled the ceremony and collected everything from the platform.
At the south loggia steps, Louis’s injured leg gave way. The nearest soldier caught him by the elbow.
“Thank you,” Louis said. He kept his voice formal. Pain had taken enough from him.
Inside, boots crossed the floors, doors opened and shut, and soldiers exchanged names and orders in low voices. They climbed the rear staircase and entered the corridor they had used earlier that day. Halfway down the corridor, a soldier backed out of a guest room carrying a letter opener, fireplace tongs, and brass scissors in his arms. Another followed with a telephone under one arm, its cord dragging along the carpet.
“This one,” the officer said.
The room beyond had been searched quickly. Drawers stood half open. A wardrobe door had been left ajar. The coverlet on the bed was folded back where someone had checked beneath it. On the hearthrug, a soldier knelt to inspect the grate with a flashlight.
“Leave that,” the officer said. “Out.”
The soldier rose and left without question. The officer turned to the three of them.
“Supper will be brought at eight,” he said. “The medic will check the knee within the hour. If you need anything else, call out. Someone will be in the hall. If you leave this room without permission, you will be restrained. Is that clear?”
Louis said, “Yes.”
Gladice said, “Very.”
“Good.” The officer stepped back into the hall. Then the door shut. A bolt slid on the outside.
Louis could not remember the three of them ever being this quiet together, not even on the ship. He leaned on the cane until the polished head hurt his palm. He crossed to the nearest chair and lowered himself into it. A hiss escaped him when his knee bent. The sharp pain had settled into a deep throb.
Angelique remained in the center of the room. Without the veil, she looked paler and younger. Exhaustion showed around her eyes. She looked down at her white gloves and began to peel them off finger by finger. Gladice crossed to the bed, sat on its edge, and bent forward with both elbows on her knees. She stared at the carpet before letting out a short laugh.
Louis looked at her. “What?”
Gladice shook her head and laughed again, quieter this time. “Nothing.” She drew in a breath. “Everything.” She looked up. “I have never been this happy to have Dixie soldiers in my life.”
Angelique let the gloves fall onto the floor. “They’re still the enemy.”
Gladice looked at her. “They’re the kind of enemy that saves you from the last enemy.” She looked at Louis. “That call worked.”
Louis nodded. His whole leg throbbed. Only then did he begin to believe Theodore could not take them back.
Angelique said, “How long will they keep us here?”
“I don’t know.” Louis closed his eyes. “At least until the Council decides what to do with Theodore. But they’re not going to hand us back to the house.”
Gladice shook her head. “No. They’ve already made that clear. This is a political seizure now. It’s not just us anymore.”
Angelique went to the window. Outside, the lawn was nearly dark.
“What will they do to him?” she asked.
“To Theodore?” Gladice snorted. “I hope they shoot him.”
Louis said nothing. He was not ready for that kind of hope. No one spoke again before a knock came at the door.
Louis looked up. “Yes?”
The bolt slid. Three soldiers entered carrying trays beneath silver cloches. They set the trays on the desk and removed the cloches. Each tray held roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, a roll, a glass of water, and silverware wrapped in cloth.
“Your supper,” the first soldier said.
“Thank you,” Louis replied.
The soldiers withdrew and locked the door again. No one spoke until their footsteps had faded down the hall.
Gladice went to the desk and stared at the food. “It’s a little late to start poisoning us now, I suppose.”
Angelique joined her and took a piece of chicken from one of the trays. “I am too tired to care.”
Gladice tore a roll apart with her fingers and ate standing. Angelique sat on the edge of the bed with the plate in her lap. Her hands still shook when she began to eat, but steadied after a few bites. Louis pulled his chair closer to the desk and ate.
Outside, footsteps passed the door at regular intervals. A door slammed deeper in the house. A man called for an inventory, and another answered him. The manor had changed hands, but not sides. Still, for the first time since the ship, the three of them were in one room with the door locked against someone else. It was not freedom. But for the night, it was enough.
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