hot, and the horse, enfeebled by the work and short rations, succumbed to the great shock of it.’
Sir Edward Lankester’s brow furrowed. ‘Is John Knight approving the procedure in general? I have always considered it barbarous.’
‘No, he’s not. He very much
Captain Warde looked troubled. ‘Do we consider any of this relevant, Colonel? The charge is one of assault. I wonder, indeed, why Daly and Hervey don’t just have it out with pistols.’
Lord George smiled benignly. ‘I fear, my dear Edwin, that such an eminently sensible course is closed to us. I’m certain Wellesley would have both of them court-martialled afterwards. No, the matter is relevant if there is to be any counter-charge of negligence, or misuse of an animal. In the case of assault, Daly has a right to bring such a charge, of course, and I am obliged to settle it by court martial. I should have no hesitation in bringing a charge of assault against
The adjutant had returned. ‘Shall I summon Mr Daly to your orderly room then, Colonel?’
Lord George frowned. ‘Yes. And soon, if we must. It were better that it were done quickly.’
‘Very good, Colonel. And John Knight says that olives well boiled would be a capital thing, perhaps fed with chop.’
Lord George’s spirits brightened a fraction. ‘Well, gentlemen, that is something. Let us hope that ravens appear soon for our
In the afternoon, the adjutant summoned Hervey again. Hervey, finding his situation as ‘hero’ to the cornets a queer thing with the threat of court martial hanging over him, tried hard to appear neither anxious nor assured. Barrow’s manner was unusually warm, but the unhappy explanation soon came: Cornet Daly was pressing the charge of assault, he said, and the lieutenant-colonel saw no alternative but to order a court martial, at which, Barrow hoped most fervently, the counter-charges of assault and mis-treatment would be heard.
‘In the meantime, Mr Hervey, the lieutenant-colonel wishes you to continue in your appointment, and to discharge your duty with the zeal he would expect of one of his officers.’
Hervey swallowed hard. ‘The lieutenant-colonel may depend upon it, sir.’
‘Very well, you may dismiss. Oh, and the major would speak with you. He’s over yonder.’ Barrow pointed to another olive tree twenty yards away, where the red pennant of the regimental major of the 6th Light Dragoons hung limp in the still air.
Hervey saluted and turned, then made for the major’s tree. He did not see Barrow shaking his head slowly.
‘Cornet Hervey, sir,’ he announced, two dozen paces later.
Major Joseph Edmonds, sitting in a camp-chair cleaning his pistols, looked up. ‘Well,
It was not what Hervey had expected to hear. He took the other camp-chair and removed his forage cap.
‘I’ve been told everything. I’ve spoken to Treve and half the picket.’
Hervey supposed that only Edmonds could have had such disregard for the formalities as to speak direct with a serjeant and dragoons. He returned the steady gaze, now entirely confident.
‘Treve said you were boiling.’
‘That is true, sir. The horse was a sorry sight.’
‘Treve said he was boiling more.’
Hervey almost smiled. ‘I can easily imagine.’
Edmonds blew into the firing pan, then held the pistol up to the light to inspect the barrel. ‘Daly is a thoroughly objectionable officer. He has every disagreeable feature of that class of man, and not one of the strengths, as far as I can see. I have no idea what are his means, but he signs credit notes as if they were nothing at all. I heartily mistrust his instincts, and I have told Warde this.’
Hervey was stunned by so decided a pronouncement from the regiment’s second in command.
‘But the trouble is, being Irish, when he’s backed into a corner the only thing he knows to do is fight. And when he is bowed and bloodied, he’ll get up and think nothing of it and expect to carry on as before. If the court martial goes against him – and I can’t see how it can’t – the sentence may yet be lenient, and we shall have him still.’
Hervey saw things perfectly well, but he could not see to what the major’s words tended.
Edmonds laid down the pistol, and sighed. ‘Funny things, courts martial, Hervey. Officers from other regiments don’t always see things the same; which is, of course, why there
‘Indeed, sir. That is what the adjutant instructed me, too.’
‘Good. And not one word of this is to be repeated.’
‘Of course, sir.’
Edmonds’s brow furrowed. ‘See, Hervey, we shall very probably face a general action in the next day or so, and I wouldn’t lay odds on the Spaniards holding, in which case we’ll be sorely pressed and may well find ourselves running for the sea again. Wellesley will have want of every high-stomached officer he has.’
Hervey glowed at the compliment. Edmonds had been his troopleader for but a few months when he had first joined, and he knew his praise to be sparing. ‘I understand, sir.’
‘Well then, be about it!’ He picked up his second pistol and began rubbing the barrel as if Hervey had already gone.
There had been a modest issue of rations for men and horses late in the morning, and both had fed early in consequence. At six, relieved of further duty, and partially filled with bread and beef for the first time in days, Hervey sat propped against an olive tree and took up his journal.
