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careful,’ warned Daniel, indulgently. ‘Bear in mind that my dear mother was Dutch. I’m one of those foreign frigging idiots you’re talking about.’
    ‘I knew there was something peculiar about you.’ Heslapped his friend familiarly on the shoulder. ‘Nevertheless, it’s good to have you back in camp again, Dan.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘And while you’ve been gallivanting here, there and everywhere, I’ve not been idle. I’ve been thinking about those British soldiers who burnt that farm down.’
    ‘Yes, they’re still very much on my mind as well.’
    ‘According to Lieutenant Ainley, they’ve added some other victims to their list.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Reports came in of another farm razed to the ground. The people who lived there were burnt to a cinder and all the livestock was driven off. Whoever these buggers are,’ he went on, rancorously, ‘they obviously eat well. While they have fresh pork and as much beef as they want, we’re stuck on army rations.’
    ‘How do you know it was the same men?’
    ‘A witness saw them riding away from the blaze and claims they wore red uniforms. There can’t be two raiding parties of British soldiers who like killing people and starting bonfires.’
    ‘I agree,’ said Daniel. ‘It’s too big a coincidence. They must be from one of our cavalry regiments. What puzzles me is why they’re trying to spread terror throughout the countryside. That will only turn people against us.’
    ‘Corporal John is always telling us to be kind to local farmers. After all, we’re not fighting against them . We’resupposed to treat them well, not burn them to death in their homes.’
    ‘I mentioned the first incident to His Grace.’
    ‘What did he say?’
    ‘He was as shaken as we were, Henry. He’s determined to find out who brought such disgrace on a British uniform.’
    ‘And what else did he say?’ wondered Welbeck. ‘Did he have any idea at all how to achieve peace or are we going to keep floundering on for another year?’
    ‘We won’t flounder,’ said Daniel. ‘There’s a definite plan.’
    Welbeck raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Really…what is it?’
    ‘I’m not at liberty to tell you the full details but I’ve just come from The Hague where His Grace met with Grand Pensionary Heinsius and with Prince Eugene of Savoy.’
    ‘What did the three of them do – play cards together?’
    ‘Don’t be so cynical, Henry.’
    ‘I’d just like to know where the hell we’re going.’
    ‘Nowhere.’
    ‘Oh, I see. We just stay here and twiddle our thumbs, do we?’
    ‘Of course not,’ said Daniel. ‘We remain in Flanders. This is where the decisive action will take place. It’s one of the things I found out while I was sniffing around in Paris.’
    ‘Which general’s wife did you seduce this time?’
    ‘That opportunity didn’t arise and, even if it had, I’d never have taken it.’
    Welbeck rolled his eyes. ‘You expect me to believe that ? ’
    While gathering intelligence, Daniel had a reputation for resorting to any means necessary. On a previous stay in Paris, he’d befriended and wooed Berenice, neglected wife of General Salignac. It never occurred to her that some of the things she confided about her husband’s commitments by way of pillow talk were duly passed on to the Duke of Marlborough. She’d been a useful, if unwitting, source of military information. In trying to combine espionage with pleasure, however, Daniel had taken an enormous risk, a fact later borne in upon him when the cuckolded general sent two men to kill him.
    ‘What else did you find out between nights of madness in someone’s boudoir?’ asked Welbeck.
    ‘I discovered that King Louis had personally chosen the ground on which this year’s battles will be fought. It’s right here in Flanders,’ said Daniel with a sweeping gesture. ‘We’ll be up against a strong French army of 100,000 men under the command of the duc de Vendôme.’
    ‘Vendôme!’ The name was