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"Yes Bastard," Hal added dispassionately "I’ll have him for breakfast, one of these days"

"Not on my account, I hope," Grey said dryly

"Oh, no," Hal assured hi "It will be a purely personal pleasure"

Grey smiled at that, despite his disquiet, and put down the colance at the fourth document, which still lay folded on the table It was an official-looking letter and had been opened; the seal was broken "A proposal of e, a denunciation for murder, and a new commission--what the devil’s that one? A bill from my tailor?"

"Ah, that I didn’tcarefully to hand it over without dropping Dottie "But under the circumstances …"

Hal waited, noncommittal, as Grey opened the letter and read it It was a request--or an order, depending how you looked at it--for the attendance of Major Lord John Grey at the court-martial of one Captain Charles Carruthers, to serve as witness of character for the same In …

"In Canada?" John’s exclamation startled Dottie, who crumpled up her face and threatened to cry

"Hush, sweetheart" Hal jiggled faster, hastily patting her back "It’s all right; only Uncle John being an ass"

Grey ignored this, waving the letter at his brother

"What the devil is Charlie Carruthers being court- summoned as a character witness?"

"Failure to suppress a mutiny," Hal said "As to why you--he asked for you, apparently An officer under charges is allowed to call his oitnesses, for whatever purpose Didn’t you know that?"

Grey supposed that he had, in an academic sort of way But he had never attended a court-, and he had no real idea of the shape of the proceedings He glanced sideways at Hal

"You say you didn’t ed and blew softly over the top of his daughter’s head,the short blond hairs furrow and rise like wheat in the wind

"No point Iofficer I required you here; why should you be dragged off to the wilds of Canada? But given your talent for aard situations … What did it feel like?" he inquired curiously

"What did--oh, the eel" Grey was accusto shifts of conversation and made the adjusthed--if trelower, and Dottie squir out her own pluly to her uncle

"Flirt," he told her, taking her from Hal "No, really, it was remarkable You kno it feels when you break a bone? That sort of jolt that goes right through you before you feel the pain, and you go blind for a h your belly? It was like that, only er Stopped my breath," he admitted "Quite literally And my heart, too, I think Dr Hunter--you know, the anatoain"

Hal was listening with close attention and asked several questions, which Grey answered auto co officers together, though froone round London together for a bit on their next leave They’d had--well, you couldn’t call it an affair Three or four brief encounters--sweating, breathless quarters of an hour in dark corners that could be conveniently forgotten in daylight or shrugged off as the result of drunkenness, not spoken of by either party

That had been in the Bad Tiht of it: those years after Hector’s death, when he’d sought oblivion wherever he could find it--and found it often--before slowly recovering himself

Likely he wouldn’t have recalled Carruthers at all, save for the one thing

Carruthers had been born with an interesting deforht hand was normal in appearance and worked quite as usual, there was another, dwarf hand that sprang froer partner Dr Hunter would probably pay hundreds for that hand, Grey thought, with a mild lurch of the stoers and a stubby thuh not without also opening and closing the larger one The shock when Carruthers had closed both of them simultaneously on Grey’s prick had been nearly as extraordinary as had the electric eel’s

"Nicholls hasn’t been buried yet, has he?" he asked abruptly, the thought of the eel party and Dr Hunter causing him to interrupt some remark of Hal’s

Hal looked surprised

"Surely not Why?" He narrowed his eyes at Grey "You don’t mean to attend the funeral, do you?"

"No, no," Grey said hastily "I was only thinking of Dr Hunter He, uo off with him After the duel"

"A reputation as what, for God’s sake?" Hal demanded impatiently

"As a body snatcher," Grey blurted

There was a sudden silence, awareness dawning in Hal’s face He’d gone pale

"You don’t think--no! How could he?"

"A … uht or so of stones substituted just prior to the coffin’s being nailed shut is the usual method--or so I’ve heard," Grey said, as well as he could with Dottie’s fist poked up his nose

Hal sed Grey could see the hairs rise on his wrist

"I’ll ask Harry," Hal said, after a short silence "The funeral can’t have been arranged yet, and if …"