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"He understood?"

The adjutant nodded and took a deep breath that rattled in his throat "He said--" He stopped and coughed, then went onhe had conquered, he was content to die"

"Did he?" Grey said blankly He’d seen ined itbeyond an inarticulate groan, his final word had likely been either "shit," or "oh, God," depending upon the general’s religious leanings, of which Grey had no notion

"Yes, good," he said lessly, and turned toward the fortress Ant trails oftoward it, and in thein the wind Below the colors, seneral’s unifor in the saddle, his officers bunched close on either side, anxious lest he fall

The British lines were reorganizing, though it was clear no further fighting would be required Not today Nearby, he saw the tall officer who had saved his life and helped hi back toward his troops

"The"Do you know his name?"

The adjutant blinked, then firmed his shoulders

"Yes, of course That’s Major Siverly"

"Oh Well, it would be, wouldn’t it?"

Admiral Holmes, third in command after Wolfe, accepted the surrender of Quebec five days later, Wolfe and his second, Brigadier Monckton, having perished in battle Montcal the battle There was no way out for the French save surrender; winter was co before its besiegers

Teeks after the battle, John Grey returned to Gareon and found that se like an autumn wind The mother of Malcolm Stubbs’s son was dead; her mother offered to sell him the child He asked her politely to wait

Charlie Carruthers had perished, too, the s for the weakness of his body to overco Carruthers’s hand to be stolen, for both the Indians and the local habitants regarded such things superstitiously He took a canoe by himself and, on a deserted island in the St Lawrence, scattered his friend’s ashes to the wind

He returned from this expedition to discover a letter, forwarded by Hal, froeon and anatomist He checked the level of brandy in the decanter and opened it with a sigh

My dear Lord John,

I have heard so the unfortunate death of Mr Nicholls, including co a public perception that you were responsible for his death In case you shared this perception, I thought it ht ease your mind to know that in fact you were not

Grey sank slowly onto a stool, eyes glued to the sheet

It is true that your ball did strike Mr Nicholls, but this accident contributed little or nothing to his demise I saw you fire upward into the air--I said as h most of them did not appear to take le and then fell upon Mr Nicholls from above At this point, its poas quite spent, and, the ht, it barely penetrated the skin above his collarbone, where it lodged against the bone, doing no further dae

The true cause of his collapse and death was an aortic aneurysent froenital The stress of the electric shock and the emotion of the duello that followed apparently caused this aneurysm to rupture Such an occurrence is untreatable and invariably fatal, I a that could have saved hieon

Grey was conscious of a most extraordinary array of sensations Relief--yes, there was a sense of profound relief, as of waking frohtinnings of indignation; by God, he had nearly been ht, of course, also have been lio, but that seemed relatively inconsequent; he was a soldier, after all--such things happened

His hand treratitude, and indignation was a growing sense of horror

I thought itthis; syhtforward renizant of its own irony