Mrs. Bulcher,
Mrs. Vandegobbleschroy, and the other married ladies above mentioned,
had each of them delightful bungalows and gardens in the place, and
between one cottage and another my time passed as delightfully as can
the hours of any man who is away from his darling occupation of war.
"I was the commandant of the fort. It is a little insignificant pettah,
defended simply by a couple of gabions, a very ordinary counterscarp,
and a bomb-proof embrasure. On the top of this my flag was planted, and
the small garrison of forty men only were comfortably barracked off in
the case-mates within. A surgeon and two chaplains (there were besides
three reverend gentlemen of amateur missions, who lived in the town,)
completed, as I may say, the garrison of our little fortalice, which I
was left to defend and to command.
"On the night of the first of November, in the year 1804, I had invited
Mrs. Major-General Bulcher and her daughters, Mrs. Vandegobbleschroy,
and, indeed, all the ladies in the cantonment, to a little festival in
honor of the recovery of my health, of the commencement of the shooting
season, and indeed as a farewell visit, for it was my intention to take
dawk the very next morning and return to my regiment. The three amateur
missionaries whom I have mentioned, and some ladies in the cantonment of
very rigid religious principles, refused to appear at my little party.
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