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"I should kill you here and now, you know," he said to Stubbs after a fewaway, though, as he watched the man retch and heave at his feet, and he spoke wearily "Better for Olivia to have a dead husband, and whatever property you leave, than a live scoundrel, ill betray her with her friends--likely with her own uishable, and Grey bent, grasping him by the hair, and pulled his head up

"What was that?"

"Wasn’t … like that" Groaning and clutching hi position, knees drawn up He gasped for a bit, head on his knees, before being able to go on

"You don’t know, do you?" He spoke low-voiced, not raising his head "You haven’t seen the things I’ve seen Not … done what I’ve had to do"

"What do youNot … battle Not an honorable thing Far "I--we--for es" He sighed, broad shoulders slu "The in with" He breathed "Think … nothing of shooting ahis wife next to his body" He sed " ’Tisn’t only Montcalm who pays for scalps," he said in a low voice Grey couldn’t avoid hearing the rawness in his voice, a pain that wasn’t physical

"Every soldier’s seen such things, Malcolently "You’re an officer It’s your job to keep them in check" And you know daht

"I know," Malcolan to cry "I couldn’t"

Grey waited while he sobbed, feeling increasingly foolish and uncomfortable At last, the broad shoulders heaved and subsided After a moment, Malcolm said, in a voice that quivered only a little, "Everybody finds a way, don’t they? And there’re not that many ways Drink, cards, or wo as he eased into a o inup

Grey felt the bottom of his stomach drop but realized in time that Malcolm had spoken matter-of-factly, with no tone of accusation

"No," he said, and drew a deep breath "Drink,his nose on his sleeve

"Drink doesn’t help et I just dreaet poxed and ood at cards," he said, clearing his throat "But sleeping in a woainst the wall, feeling nearly as battered as Malcolh the air, whirling round theht," he said eventually "What do you nation "Think of so, I suppose"

Grey reached down and offered a hand; Stubbs got carefully to his feet and, nodding to Grey, shuffled toward the alley’s ht fall out Halfway there, though, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder There was an anxious look on his face, half embarrassed

"Can I … The miniature? They are still h that went to the marrow of his bones; he felt a thousand years old

"Yes, they are," he said, and, digging the miniature out of his pocket, tucked it carefully into Stubbs’s coat "Remember it, will you?"

Two days later, a convoy of troop ships arrived, under the command of Adry for unsalted er arrived at Grey’s quarters, bearing a parcel for him from his brother, with Aded with care, wrapped in oilcloth and tied about with twine, the knot sealed with his brother’s crest That was unlike Hal, whose usual coenerally ehtly fewer than the e They were seldoned, let alone sealed

Tohtly ominous, too; he had set it by itself, apart froe bottle of brandy, apparently to prevent it escaping That, or he suspected Grey ht require the brandy to sustain hi of htful of you, To for his penknife

In fact, the letter within occupied less than a page, bore neither salutation nor signature, and was completely Hal-like

Minnie wishes to knohether you are starving, though I don’t knohat she proposes to do about it, should the answer be yes The boys wish to knohether you have taken any scalps--they are confident that no red Indian would succeed in taking yours; I share this opinion You had better bring three toht; the jeweler wasis a copy of Adaed him yesterday

The other contents of the parcel consisted of a s docuood parchnia of George II Grey left it lying on the table, fetched one of the pewter cups fron chest, and filled it to the bri anew at his valet’s perspicacity

Thus fortified, he sat down and took up the little pouch, froold paperweight,ocean waves It was set with a faceted--and very large--sapphire, which glowed like the evening star in its setting Where had Ja?

He turned it in his hand, ad the workmanship, but then set it aside He sipped his brandy for a bit, watching the official docuht explode He was reasonably sure it would

He weighed the document in his hand and felt the breeze froes a little, like the flap of a sail just before it fills and bellies with a snap

Waiting wouldn’t help And Hal plainly knehat it said, anyway; he’d tell Grey eventually, whether he wanted to know or not Sighing, he put by his brandy and broke the seal

I, Bernard Donald Adams, do make this confession of my own free will …

Was it? he wondered He did not know Ada, could not tell whether the document had been written or dictated--no, wait He flipped over the sheets and exaht, he had written it hi It seemed firm Probably not extracted under torture, then Perhaps it was the truth

"Idiot," he said under his breath "Read the godda and have done with it!"

He drank the rest of his brandy at a gulp, flattened the pages upon the stone of the parapet, and read, at last, the story of his father’s death<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>