This week I’m hosting Debbie Viguie with Kiss of Night, Sandra Robbins with Alabama Brides, and Christine Lindsay with Shadowed in Silk. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (October 23rd) evening.
Interview with the hero from Shadowed in Silk by Christine Lindsay:
Major Geoff Richards, you are a member of the British Cavalry serving in India, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
There are far more interesting people in this world than me. I’m a soldier. I’d much rather talk about my men. The way my Indian soldiers laid down their lives for Great Britain in her hour of need during this last war, this war that was supposed to end all wars—well the sacrifice of my valiant troops breaks my heart with pride.
What do you do for fun?
Take out my gelding, Samson, for a ripping ride over the Indian plains. He’s the color of midnight. And you should see the way that horse jumps the canals as the morning mist curls off the water. You can hear God’s voice in a morning like that. And of course I’ll never turn down a fast chukka of polo. Our regiment won the Christmas tournament you know. But again, it was my lads. Such honorable lads. Great soldiers as well as horsemen.
What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Talking to Mrs. Abby Fraser. It’s not that I find it unpleasant to talk with her. On the contrary, she’s a fine upstanding young woman. Quite lovely. Vulnerable if you ask me, though she hides it under a brave front. She’s a wonderful mother to the little chap, Cam. Only 3 years old, but quite the man already.
It’s just that I fear that blackguard of a husband of Abby’s is mistreating her and neglecting the boy. Her husband is a fellow British soldier. It’s a terrible disgrace, a man treating his wife like that. A man’s wife is to be treasured, respected. Loved. But what can I do? Isn’t right for me to interfere or suggest anything to help Abby in such a delicate situation. But I pray. Oh yes I pray for their entire family.
And I do what I can for the child. Take him out for rides on Samson. But as for Abby . . . well I’ve asked my good friend Miriam to talk to her. Miriam is one of the finest Indian Christians I know . . . was a Hindu widow until she came to know Christ. She’s a precious sister in the Lord to me. Miriam is the person to teach Abby how to protect herself in this abusive marriage of hers. She’ll take Abby under her wing, like a mother.
What are you afraid of most in life?
I can’t bear to see those around me hurting or mistreated. I see this in Abby and Cam’s life with that husband of hers. I pray that man will see sense one day and realize what a treasure he has in his wife and son.
But I also see my Indian soldiers and my friends abused and neglected. We British have got to realize we can’t continue to treat the Indian people as second-class citizens in their own country. I feel a growing hatred in the population . . . revolution . . . maybe even another war is coming. I fear that one day I’ll see that hatred coming from the eyes of my own men and directed at me because I’m an Englishman.
What do you want out of life?
I used to want a family as well as my career. But that was before my wife and baby died . . . and then the war. Now all I want is to serve God and my men. To die as an old soldier. I no longer expect joy in this life. I will wait patiently for that to come after I die . . . joy will come with heaven. Still though, I’m young. I expect God has a great deal of work for me to do before that day.
What is the most important thing to you?
The Lord God of course. And then again, that little chap . . . Cam—Abby’s son. More and more he’s becoming important to me. Nowadays, I can’t imagine not having him in my life. I pray things improve in that household for Abby and her boy.
Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
Pilgrim’s Progress is a great favorite. I read it frequently. I’ve also read some of Kipling’s works set in India. I’ve been telling young Cam about Mogli from The Jungle Book.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
That this wretched tremor in my hand will stop. It started in France. Saw too many of my men die in the mud. Held too many of them as they took their last breaths. And then there were the horses. All of them dead. Majestic steeds, mown down by shrapnel. The nightmare of shooting my gallant old boy, Goliath, still haunts me. The way that beautiful beast stared up at me, trusting me to take his life . . . Yes, it’s this wretched hand of mine. I wish it would stop shaking.
Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I wouldn’t call my cavalry steeds, pets. They’re more like trusted friends. I suppose though, my polo ponies might be pets. More for fun those Australian ponies of mine. And then the little chap Cam has a pet mongoose. We’ve shared many an amusing afternoon playing with that rascal of a creature.
If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I’d go back to the day Queen Victoria received that painting of India called the Jewel in the Crown. I’d approached her throne and ask her to grant freedom to the people of India. They should be running their own affairs in their own country. Not right to treat them as invisible people.
