William, with a smarting pain in his forearm, limped over to where his practice sabre lay on the grass, flicked there by a deft stroke from Captain Liversage. For the last month he had been practicing rigorously with the captain for hours every day, and his body was black and blue all over from the wallopings he had received from the blunted practice sword. Because of this intense regime, under the expert tutelage of the captain, however, his skills in swordsmanship had grown exponentially, and now he could quite easily hold his own in a sword fight, at least against an average opponent.
‘En garde, private!’
William raised his sabre and turned his body sideways to face the captain. He gave him a brief nod to indicate that he was ready.
‘Have at you!’ Liversage cried.
The captain lunged forward with the speed of a striking cobra, and William was barely able to parry and dodge the flurry of furious blows. Despite being in his sixties, Captain Liversage seemed to possess speed and reflexes that verged on the superhuman, and he was more than a match for William in terms of endurance and strength.
It was not long before the bout ended in victory for Captain Liversage, the edge of whose sabre ended up pressed lightly against William’s throat.
‘Dead again, William,’ he said with a boyish grin and a mischievous sparkle in his eye. ‘Although not quite so quickly this time. Good! You held your own well there, my boy. Despite what you seem to believe, you do have the makings of a proficient swordsman, and believe me, I do not hand out such compliments lightly. It will just take time to get you there, so we will keep working on your weaknesses while developing your strengths.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ William gasped, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat off of his brow with the back of his sleeve.
‘For God’s sake, be a gentleman and use a handkerchief to dab that perspiration away!’
William blushed with shame as Captain Liversage’s ire flared up with mercurial rapidity.
‘I’ll clip you about the ears if you use the sleeve of your uniform in such a manner again. If you want your Aurora’s father to believe you’re a noble gentleman rather than an uncouth ruffian, you’d best start acting like one! You’re no longer an unmannered peasant, are you boy? Are you?!’
William looked away, his cheeks crimson and hot.
‘No sir,’ he replied sheepishly. ‘I’m no country peasant.’
‘Act and think like a gentleman at all times, and surely enough you shall become one. Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, and habits make the man. Remember this.’
‘That sounds like wisdom tae me, sir.’
Captain Liversage’s expression lightened, and the storm-clouds of anger dissipated from his countenance, replaced instead by a kind smile.
‘What I’m saying to you is merely wisdom accumulated through my experience in this world so far, all sixty-three years of it,’ he said in a more sympathetic tone.
William instinctively reached up to wipe his sleeve across his forehead again, but quickly corrected himself and instead pulled his handkerchief from his pocket to complete the action. Captain Liversage walked over and clapped him heartily on his back.
‘You see William! You’re learning and progressing already.’
‘I’m trying, sir.’
‘Come now, ready your sabre. It’s time for another round.’
William held up his hand.
‘Wait sir, beggin’ your pardon, but could you give me but a minute tae catch me’ breath? We’ve been fencing fir nigh on an hour now.’
Captain Liversage laughed, boyish mischief dancing in his eyes.
‘I’m old enough to be your grandfather, my lad, yet you are tiring before me!’
‘I know sir, I know, but you are, er, unusually healthy, sir.’
‘Yes, yes I am, Private. And you know why that is, do you not?’
‘Er, um … well, not really sir, why is it?’ William asked, breathing hard, and secretly hoping that he could draw out this sidetracking of the conversation long enough to catch his breath.
Captain Liversage smiled almost conspiratorially, as if he were about to divulge some great secret to William.
‘You bring me my food every day, all three meals. What do you notice about it?’
‘Well, um, it’s different from the slop that we troopers have tae eat, sir. I dunnae, it seems, um, nicer, perhaps?’
‘Do you notice a lack of anything on my plate, William?’
‘Well I never really paid much attention tae it sir, seein’ as it’s covered wi’ a silver platter cover when I serve it tae you in the officer’s mess, an’ I dunnae eat wi’ you lot, sir.’
‘Fair enough, fair enough. Well my boy, I’ve told you a little about my decades spent in Her Majesty’s service in India, but not enough, perhaps. You see, when I was there I also picked up some very healthy habits, based on some of the native beliefs and philosophies. Have you ever seen me drinking gin with the other officers?’
‘Um, no sir. As I recall, you always drink nowt but water.’
‘It is the giver of all life on this planet, William. The purest source of it. Alcohol muddies the mind, and I do not partake of it. Now, what is something else that I do not consume?’
‘I’m no’ sure, sir…’
‘Flesh, my boy. Animal flesh! For thousands of years, many people in India have abjured the consumption of meat. What is seen as so natural and wholesome by us supposedly superior Englishmen is seen as savagery and barbarism by them, and rightly so. The flesh of dead animals – innocent and peaceful beings who we brutalise with our warlike nature – defiles the purity of these perfect temples that are our bodies. For many decades, no morsel of meat has passed between these lips of mine, and my health has thanked me for it, as you can see!’
William considered this, and then nodded thoughtfully as he replied.
‘Aye sir, well I suppose the evidence is right before m’ eyes, it is.’
‘I can teach you of the ways of Eastern philosophies, if you are interested. There is much to be learned from their ideas … if
