His tone was perfectly calm and matter-of-fact, almost unconcerned.
'What do you intend doing?' asked the Duke of Richmond anxiously.
'The army is concentrating at Quatre-Bras but we shan't stop him there.' The Duke pointed a bony forefinger at the map. 'I must fight him here here.' He indicated the countryside just south of the little village of Waterloo.
He rolled up the map and handed it back to Richmond.
'I must be off. I'll make my farewells to the Duchess and be on my way.'
The two Dukes strode off down the corridor towards the ballroom and the Doctor and Colonel Grant followed. The Doctor realised that he had been largely forgotten.
'Please, remember what I told you,' he said urgently. 'This is the moment of greatest danger. See that the Duke is guarded at all times.'
'It is no easy matter to protect the Duke,' said Colonel Grant wryly. 'On the battlefield or off! He is totally fearless and he will tolerate no restriction upon his movements. But I will do my best, Doctor.'
They entered the ballroom and saw that the dancing had temporarily come to a halt. The room was buzzing with speculation as people tried to work out the meaning of the Duke's abrupt departure, and equally sudden return.
The Doctor saw Serena surrounded by a group of admiring young officers, all begging her for the next waltz.
She left them as soon as she saw the Doctor had returned, hurrying across to him.
'Well, Doctor?'
'I've warned him, but I don't think he's paying too much attention. He's got a lot on his mind at the moment of course.'
'Maybe we were wrong and this isn't where the attempt happens.'
'Perhaps. He's leaving any moment now. We must just keep our eyes open.'
The Duke, meanwhile, was saying farewell to a pretty middle-aged woman in a tiara. Or rather, trying to.
'Duke, you cannot go yet,' she pleaded. 'You will spoil my surprise. I have arranged an entertainment far more impressive than that wretched Italian soprano Catalini, who caterwauled at your last ball.'
'I can refuse you nothing, Duchess. Ten minutes then, no more.'
The Duchess raised her hand and a weird wailing sound began outside the main doors to the ballroom. A troop of Highlanders in full regalia marched into the ballroom, white sporrans swinging before their kilts, tartan plaids flung over their shoulders, red-chequered stockings on their brawny legs.
Forgetting their worries the crowd of officers and their ladies greeted them with wild applause. They watched delightedly as the pipers played and the soldiers performed strathspeys, reels and sword dances.
The Doctor stared hard at the colourful gyrating dancers.
'The piper,' he muttered. '"She who pays the piper"...'
Serena sprang forward, pointing. 'Doctor, look!'
There was the crash of a musket shot...
Chapter Thirty-two.
Waterloo
As Serena shouted, the Doctor saw the piper training the cunningly disguised weapon at the Duke.
In the same split-second, Serena leaped forwards, her arm raised, pointing.
The musket shot rang out. Beneath Serena's raised arm, blood flowered red on the white satin of her gown and she fell to the ground.
The Doctor knelt beside her and grasped her hand.
The brilliant green eyes opened for a moment and held his own.
'I did something useful at last, didn't I Doctor?'
The eyes closed.
The Doctor straightened up. He heard the Duke's urgent shout. 'Get John Hume. Someone fetch Doctor Hume.'
The Doctor turned and saw that the piper assassin had disappeared beneath a pile of outraged Highlanders. He saw Colonel Grant run over to the struggling group.
'Don't kill him, we need him for questioning.'
As the man was led away, the Doctor caught a glimpse of the handsome, but now somewhat battered, features of Valmont, the Countess's companion.
Satisfied that the prisoner was secured, Colonel Grant returned to the Duke.
'Are you unharmed, your lordship?'
The Duke was looking down at Serena's body. 'Oh yes,'
he said. 'I'm untouched thanks to her.'
A grave-faced, middle-aged man appeared and knelt by Serena. After a moment he rose, shaking his head. 'I am sorry. She is quite dead, killed instantly.'
The Doctor already knew. The heavy musket ball, fired at close range, had passed sideways through Serena's body, shattering both her hearts. There would be no more lives for her, no regenerations.
Time Lords are not immortal.
Suddenly he became aware of a cloaked figure hurrying towards the door.
He seized Colonel Grant's arm. 'That's the Countess, the woman behind this. Stop her!'
Grant's voice rose in command. 'That woman, hold her.'
Two armed sentries by the door grabbed the Countess, and the Doctor and Colonel Grant hurried over to her.
She threw back the hood of her cloak and glared defiance at them.
'Is this her?' demanded Grant.
The Doctor studied the aristocratically beautiful face, the dark hair sparkling with jewels, the incongruous deep blue eyes. 'Oh yes, that's her.' To the Countess he said, 'I thought you wouldn't be able to resist coming to see your triumph.
Instead you witnessed a tragedy.'
'A tragedy indeed, Doctor. If the fool couldn't manage to shoot the Duke, he might at least have killed you instead of that useless girl!'
The Doctor stepped closer to her. 'I am very tempted to kill you myself!' he said quietly, and reached for her throat with two strong and sinewy hands.
The Countess recoiled before the fury in his face. She appealed to Grant.
'I am your prisoner. Will you stand by and see me murdered?'
Colonel Grant was shocked. 'Steady on, Doctor. Proper procedures, you know. There'll have to be a trial then we'll shoot her!'
The Countess managed to recover her poise. 'I'm surprised at you, Doctor,' she said mockingly. 'I thought your race was mild and civilised.'
The Doctor lowered his hands, a little abashed. 'Not always. Once we used to set other races to slaughtering each other for our amusement. It seems the old instincts haven't entirely died out.' He turned to Colonel Grant who had been listening to this exchange in some bafflement.
'Colonel Grant, while this woman lives she is a danger to the Duke and to his victory. She must be kept under close guard.
Not just locked up but watched every moment until the battle has been won.'
'I'll see to it,' promised the Colonel. 'She won't escape us.'
'Don't be too sure of your victory, Doctor,' hissed the Countess.
'Why don't you just give up?' said the Doctor wearily.
'You've lost. It's all over.'
'Oh no it isn't, Doctor. Not quite yet.' She leaned forward and whispered, ' What if it's night after all? What if it's night after all? ' '
At a sign from Colonel Grant the sentries took her away.
'What did she mean?' asked Grant.
The Doctor sighed. 'Who knows? She has a taste for enigmatic taunts.'
Taunts with a purpose and a meaning, he thought, remembering her jibe about paying the piper. Was this another clue? ' What if it's night after all? What if it's night after all? ' '
Serena's body had been lifted onto a stretcher and covered with a white tablecloth. The Duchess of Richmond, who had been supervising the process, came up to him. 'Do you want to see her again, Doctor?'
'Thank you, no. I've said my goodbyes. I know it's an imposition, but '
'We will take care of everything,' said the Duchess. 'The funeral, too, if you wish. We all owe her a great deal. Are there any other friends, relatives, who should be notified?'
'Unfortunately, they are all too far away. I'll attend the funeral if I can, but in the present circumstances...'
'I understand. What should be engraved on her tombstone?'
'Just her name Serena.'
'Nothing else?'
'Nothing else.'
The Duchess held out her hand, a small gleaming object in the palm. 'We found this on her, Doctor. It seemed to be her only possession.'
The TARDIS key. 'Thank you,' said the Doctor. 'It was the key to something she treasured. I'll take good care of it.' He took the key and tucked it away. 'Many thanks, Duchess. I'm most grateful for all your kindness.'
His grief was obvious and the Duchess looked sympathetically at him. 'Was she a close friend or a relative?'
The Doctor shook his head. 'Neither. She was a colleague a relatively recent acquaintance. But I'd grown very fond of her. Thank you again.' He bowed and turned away.
'Doctor!' called a commanding voice. He turned and saw the Duke of Wellington standing nearby with Colonel Grant.
He went over to them.
The Duke cleared his throat, his voice unexpectedly diffident. 'What can I say, Doctor? For the second time, I owe you my life.'
'Not me,' said the Doctor, his voice bleak.
'You tried to warn me at least, though I failed to listen. And your young friend sacrificed her life to save me.'