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The duke had suspected the existence of a Jacobite ring for soht involved in it Still, he made no move to expose them until the warrant was issued for his own arrest, upon the charge of treason Hearing of this, he had sent at once to Adaden

Adams did not kno much the duke knew of his own involvement but did not dare to stay away, lest the duke, under arrest, denounce hiht to Earlingden, arriving just before dawn

He had come to the conservatory’s outside doors and been admitted by the duke Whereupon "some conversation" had ensued

I had learned that day of the issuance of a warrant for arrest upon the charge of treason, to be served upon the body of the Duke of Pardloe I was uneasy at this, for the duke had questioned both ested to me that he suspected the existence of a secret ainst the duke’s arrest, as I did not know the extent of his knowledge or suspicion, and feared that, if placed in exigent danger hier atVictor Arbuthnot, Lord Creeent upon the point, though, saying that it would do no harm; any accusations made by Pardloe could be dis in fact--while the fact of his arrest would naturally cause a widespread assuht at present be directed toward us

The duke, hearing of the warrant, sent toand summoned me to call upon him at his country ho what evidence he ht to his estate, arriving soon before dawn

Adams had met the duke there, in the conservatory Whatever the form of this conversation, its result had been drastic

I had brought with me a pistol, which I had loaded outside the house I meant this only for protection, as I did not knohat the duke’s deerous, evidently Gerard Grey, Duke of Pardloe, had also co to Adams, the duke had withdrawn his pistol from the recesses of his jacket--whether to attack or merely threaten was not clear--whereupon Adams had drawn his own pistol in panic Both ht the duke’s pistol had misfired, since the duke could not have missed at the distance

Adaet, and seeing the blood upon the duke’s boso back, he had seen the duke, ht, seize the branch of the peach tree beside him for support, whereupon the duke had used the last of his strength to hurl his own useless weapon at Ada the parch the neat strokes in which Adams had set down his bloodless account He saw the blood A dark red, beautiful as a jehere the sun through the glass of the roof struck it suddenly His father’s hair, tousled as itAnd the peach, fallen to those same tiles, its perfection spoiled and ruined

He set the papers down on the table; the wind stirred theht to hold them down

What was it Carruthers had called him? Someone who keeps order "You and your brother," he’d said "You don’t stand for that If there is any order in the world, any peace--it’s because of you, John, and those very few like you"

Perhaps He wondered if Carruthers knew the cost of peace and order--but then recalled Charlie’s haggard face, its youthful beauty gone, nothing left in it now save the bones and the dogged deter

Yes, he knew

Nearly teeks later, just after full dark, they boarded the ships The convoy included Adship, the Lowestoff; three men of war: the Squirrel, Sea Horse, and Hunter; a number of armed sloops; others loaded with ordnance, powder, and ammunition; and a number of transports for the troops--1,800 men in all The Sutherland had been left below, anchored just out of firing range of the fortress, to keep an eye on the ene batteries and prowling shlanders aboard Sea Horse and spent the journey on deck, too keyed up to bear being below

His brother’s warning kept recurring in the back of hisstupid"--but it was much too late to think of that, and, to block it out, he challenged one of the other officers to a whistling contest Each party was to whistle the entirety of "The Roast Beef of Old England," the loser the hed first He lost, but did not think of his brother again

Just afterships quietly furled their sails, dropped anchor, and lay like slu spot that Malcolm Stubbs and his scouts had recommended to General Wolfe, lay sevenslate cliffs that led upward to the Plains of Abraham

"Is it named for the Biblical Abraha the name, but had been inforing to an ex-pilot naht this prosaic origin just as well There was likely to be draht of ancient prophets, conversations with God, nor any calculation of how ht be contained within the fortress of Quebec

With a hlanders and their officers, Wolfe and his chosen troops--Grey a them--debarked into the small bateaux that would carry the point

The sounds of oars were , and there was little conversation in the boats Wolfe sat in the prow of the lead boat, facing his troops, looking now and then over his shoulder at the shore Quite without warning, he began to speak He didn’t raise his voice, but the night was so still that those in the boat had little trouble in hearing hiy Written in a Country Churchyard"

Melodraht--and yet could not deny that the recitation was oddly h he was si to himself, and a shiver went over Grey as Wolfe intoned:

The boast of heraldry, the poave,

Awaits alike the inevitable hour

"The paths of glory lead but to the grave," Wolfe ended, so low-voiced that only the three or four h to hear him clear his throat, with a small "hem" noise, and saw his shoulders lift