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his chair rocked and fell over with a clatter. Choiseul coughed and blotted
blood from his lip, and the guard opened the door and looked inside.
Everything all right, sir? he asked, looking straight at
Laurence; he paid not the slightest mind to Choiseul s injury.
Yes, you may go, Laurence said flatly, wiping blood from his hand onto his
handkerchief as the door closed once again. He would ordinarily have been
ashamed to strike a prisoner, but in this moment he felt not the slightest
qualm; his heart was still beating very quickly.
Choiseul slowly set his chair back upright and sat down once more. More
quietly, he said, I am sorry. I
could not bring myself to it, in the end, and I thought instead He stopped,
seeing the color rise again in Laurence s face.
The very notion that for all these months such malice had been lurking so
close to Temeraire, averted only by some momentary quirk of conscience on
Choiseul s part, was enough to make his blood run cold. With loathing, he
said, And so instead you tried to seduce a girl barely past her schoolroom
years and abduct her.
Choiseul said nothing; indeed, Laurence could hardly imagine what defense he
could have offered. After a moment s pause, Laurence added, You can have no
further pretensions to honor: tell me what
Bonaparte plans, and perhaps Lenton will have Praecursoris sent to the
breeding grounds in
Newfoundland, if indeed your motive is for his life, and not your own
miserable hide.
Choiseul paled, but said, I know very little, but what I know I will tell
you, if he gives his word to do as much.
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No, Laurence said. You may speak and hope for a mercy you do not deserve if
you choose; I will not bargain with you.
Choiseul bowed his head, and when he spoke he was broken, so faint Laurence
had to strain to hear him.
I do not know what he intends, precisely, but he desired me to urge the
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weakening of the covert here most particularly, to have as many sent south to
the Mediterranean as could be arranged.
Laurence felt sick with dismay; this goal at least had been brilliantly
accomplished. Does he have some means for his fleet to escape Cadiz? he
demanded. Does he suppose he can bring them here without facing Nelson?
Do you imagine Bonaparte confided in me? Choiseul said, not lifting his
head. To him also I was a traitor; I was told the tasks I was to accomplish,
nothing more.
Laurence satisfied himself with a few more questions that Choiseul truly knew
nothing else; he left the room feeling both soiled and alarmed, and went at
once to Lenton.
The news cast a heavy pall upon the whole covert. The captains had not
broadcast the details, but even the lowliest cadet or crewman could tell that
a shadow lay upon them. Choiseul had timed his attempt well: the
dispatch-rider would not reach them again for six days, and from there two
weeks or more would be required to see any portion of the forces from the
Mediterranean restored to the Channel.
Militia forces and several Army detachments had already been sent for; they
would arrive within a few days, to begin emplacing additional artillery along
the coastline.
Laurence, with additional cause for anxiety, had spoken to Granby and Hollin
to raise their caution on
Temeraire s behalf. If Bonaparte were jealous enough of having so personal a
prize taken away, he might well send another agent, this one more willing to
slay the dragon he could no longer claim. You must promise me to be careful,
he told Temeraire as well. Eat nothing unless one of us is by, and has
approved it; and if anyone whom I have not presented to you seeks to approach
you, do not under any circumstances permit it, even if you must fly to another
clearing.
I will have a care, Laurence, I promise, said Temeraire. I do not
understand, though, why the French
Emperor should want to have me killed; how could that improve his
circumstances? He would do better to ask them for another egg.
My dear, the Chinese would hardly condescend to give him a second where the
first went so badly astray while in the keeping of his own men, he said. I
am still puzzled at their having given him even one, indeed; he must have some
prodigiously gifted diplomat at their court. And I suppose his pride may
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sty's%20Dragon.html be hurt, to think that a lowly British captain stands in
the place which he had meant to occupy himself.
Temeraire snorted with disdain. I am sure I would never have liked him in the
least, even if I had hatched in France, he said. He sounds a very unpleasant
person.
Oh, I cannot truly say. One hears a great deal of his pride, but there is no
denying that he is a very great man, even if he is a tyrant, Laurence said
reluctantly; he would have been a great deal happier to be able to convince
himself that Bonaparte was a fool.
Lenton gave orders that patrols now were to be flown only by half the
formation at a time, the rest kept back at the covert for intensive combat
training. Under cover of night, several additional dragons were secretly flown
down from the coverts at Edinburgh and Inverness, including Victoriatus, the
Parnassian whom they had rescued what now seemed a long time ago. His captain,
Richard Clark, made a nice point of coming to greet Laurence and Temeraire. I
hope you can forgive me for not paying you my respects and my gratitude
sooner, he said. I confess at Laggan I had very little thought for anything
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but his recovery, and we were shipped out again without warning, as I believe
were you.
Laurence shook his hand heartily. Pray do not give it a thought, he said. I
hope he is wholly recovered?
Entirely, thank Heaven, and none too soon, either, Clark said grimly. I
understand the assault is expected at any moment.
And yet the days stretched out, painfully long with anticipation, and no
attack came. Three more
Winchesters were brought down for additional scouting, but one and all they
returned from their dangerous forays to the French shores to report heavy
patrols at all hours along the enemy s coastline;
there was no chance of penetrating far enough inland to acquire more
information.
Levitas was among them, but the company was large enough that Laurence was not
obliged to see much of Rankin, for which he was grateful. He tried not to see
the signs of that neglect which he could do no more to cure; he felt he could
not visit the little dragon further without provoking a quarrel which might be
disastrous to the temper of the whole covert. However, he compromised with his
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