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The second letter was also addressed in Ian’s hand, but marked Private below the blue wax seal

"And ill this be, I wonder?" Jaan without salutation, obviously er letter

Now, Brother, I have a matter of some concern to put to you, upon which I write separately, so that youthisIan aboard ship in Charleston Should this have occurred, ill of course welco with joy However, if by chance he has not yet quitted your company, it is our wish that he re to you and to Claire

"Not unpleasing to lanced fro on the grass with two young slaves, rolling over and over in a giggling tangle of li tail "M

I mentioned Siimental levies have been a h thefortunately remote and difficult of travel

Lovat finds little trouble in inducing lads to take the King’s shilling; what is there for them here? Poverty and want, with no hope of better to inherit, where they are forbidden the plaid or the right to carry a man’s weapons? Why should they not seize the chance of reclai the notion of manhood--even should it mean they wear the tartan and carry a sword in the service of a German usurper?

I think sometimes this is the worst of it; not only that murder and injustice have been loosed unchecked upon us, without hope of cure or recourse--but that our young men, our hope and future, should be thus piped away, squandered for the profit of the conqueror, and paid in the small coin of their pride

Jamie looked up at me, one brow raised

"Ye wouldna think to look at him that Ian had such poesy in him, aye?"

There was a break in the text here When it resu, which had sprawled above into an angry scraith frequent blots and scratches, was oncepardon for the passion of my words I had not meant to say so much, but the temptation to openThese are things I would not say to Jenny, though I iarrulous Young Jah for the present--at least we have no fear that either of them will be tempted by a soldier’s life

The same is not true of Ian; you know the lad, and his spirit of adventure, so similar to your own There is no real work for him here, yet he has not the mind of a scholar or a head for business How shall he fare, in a world where he ary and the profession of war? For there is little else

We would have him stay with you, if you will have hireater opportunity in the New World for hiht be found here Even if this should not be so, hisaith his regiment

I could ask no better Guardian or exareat Favour of you in this Matter Still, I hope the situation will not be entirely without benefit to you, beyond the presumed Great Pleasure of Ian’s company

"Not only a poet, but an ironist, too," Jalance at the boys on the lawn

Here there was another break in the text, before the writing resumed, this time with a freshly sharpened quill, the words written carefully, reflecting the thought behind thehts to be clear and un this concern I have in fact taken up my pen and put it down a dozen times, unsure whether to speak at all--I fear to offend you, in the same breath I ask your favour And yet I must speak

I wrote of Sih his father’s son--but he is a bloody man I have known him since all of us were lads (soulf of years), and there is a hardness in hilimpse of steel at the back of his eyes, that was not there before Culloden

What troubles e you bear of my love toward you is all that emboldens me to say this--is that I have seen that steel in your own eyes, Brother

I know too well the sights that freeze a man’s heart, to harden his eyes in that fashion I trust that you will forgive my frankness, but I have feared for your soul, many times since Culloden

I have not spoken of the matter to Jenny, but she has seen it, too She is a woman, forbye, and will know you in ways I cannot It will be that fear, I think, that caused her to throw Laoghaire at your head I did think the e, deliberate blotch obscured several lines) You are fortunate in Claire

"M me an eye I squeezed his shoulder, and leaned forward to read the rest

It is late, and I ramble I spoke of Simon--care for his men is now his sole link with humanity He has neither wife nor child, he lives without root or hearth, his patri fire in such a man, but no heart I hope never to say the sa Ian