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I looked at her speechlessly To hear those tords spoken aloud were akin to having them branded into me That she knew and had spoken it aloud made the reality freshly horrible to , she confided cal up your unifors; so the worst of the crisis were thieves and worse They stole anything they could carry off, including the blankets that covered the dead It was horrible So I gathered up your things to keep theh my pockets" I was offended
"Yes Naturally," she retorted "So that if there was anything of value, I could be sure to keep it safe The only thing I found was that horrid discharge paper So I burned it, of course"
"You burned e papers!"
"Of course" She was so caled one shoulder and did not aze Then she turned back, looked me in the eye, and said flatly, "I’m not a fool I knew Colonel Stiet was very ill I saw that those papers were dated the saed that in the midst of all that, there was a chance he hadn’t recorded his tantrum anywhere else And if he died, and there was no record of it, then I saw no reason for you to be burdened with it So I burned it No one else saw ed you had not told anyone else about it, either"
She sat back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap She looked pleased with herself Then she gave a little sigh "Unfortunately, he didn’t die But we can hope that with all else that has happened, he won’t have time to trouble you"
"I don’t knohat to say," I said at last
"Then say nothing!" she advised o back to the Academy Resume your life as if it had never happened I really doubt that Stiet will take tinore it And if anyone is stupid and vicious enough to atteht it Tooth and claw"
I scarcely heard it I was still nore it? That seems…dishonest"
"No, you dolt Dishonest is a spoiled child lying about you and having you dishonorably discharged from the Acade down to kiss h for one day Think on what I said, and then sleep on it And for once, do what is sensible"
She did not give ree with her She walked to the , drew the curtains to put the rooht it over I calculated eant Rufet had known, but he was dead The doctor knew, but as he had not otten my words to him Colonel Stiet knew, of course, as did Caulder But would they linger at the Academy or would they swiftly depart and allow Colonel Rebin toquarters? I tempted myself with the notion that perhaps the colonel had been too distracted to noteof the Acadeet the incident of his son’s drunkenness
Or perhaps not I decided sternly that it was a foolish thing to hope for I also decided I would be equally foolish not to attee What more, after all, could Colonel Stiet do to me than what he had already done? And so as the days passed and I grew stronger, I kept Epiny’s counsel and did not speak of the discharge to anyone
Perhaps the slim hope I felt sped my recovery A day came when I could rise froular food instead of the bland soups I’d been subsisting on My appetite returned with a vengeance, and to ht, I ate heartily at everyillness, and of course that would have to be rebuilt by strenuous exercise I was not yet up to it, but after another week had passed, I was able not only to stroll through ardens with Purissa, but also to ride sedately with Epiny in the park I did not even ned me her docile mare and rode Sirlofty
My uncle’s home was not a happy place in those days I did not take lad that I had the excuse ofconvalescence My uncle said little of the misery Epiny had caused her fath than I enjoyed I was sorry to have been the indirect cause of my uncle’s tribulations, and yet in a quiet corner of my soul, I rejoiced that at least Spink would have the joy of a ho doted on him I feared his life would offer him little else in the way of consolation