TD - 15th Hussars HQ

"..Sir?" He looked baffled. A friend? Who had heared of a Captain being a friend to a mere Trooper? He studied Hunter uncertainly, before he spoke. "You have come to see me, sir? "

George frowned. 'Please, drop the sir. I... I...' Geoge fell silent, running a hand through his hair and for once feeling not at all sure of himself.

"But ... you are a captain , sir. It would be.. insubordination were I not to address you respectively." And he couldn't afford yet another cause for concern. Not now, that he already carried with him the burden of his past mistakes and bad luck. He had disappointed an officer, his own troop, lord Edrington also and even perhaps in some way angered the riflemen. He sighed. What a price to shoot a rifle. And yet, atleast that had been a fine experience.

"I am.. grateful you have come, sir. Though I... regret it is in such circumstances..." He smiled faintly.

George jumped up, and striding to the seated hussar, grabbed him by the shoulders.
'You don't have to call me sir, when there is no one else to hear it. Listen, I here as a friend, damn it, and I need you to trust me. How will I know you do, if you keep calling me sir and behaving like the trooper that you are'.

"But.. sir. I am a trooper. A private in the 15th Hussars." He said with some pride. He was no higher rank, though he did not feel shame in serving as a mere soldier.

"..my trust is no smaller with the respect that I give you as a superior officer, sir. It..."He felt awkward at speaking to an officer in such a manner, that was near that of an equal. Didn't feel right.

'Christ! Why are Englishmen so pigheaded?!' George shook Willoughby slightly, then let go. Straightening, he paced the room, then spoke morosely.
'Since you do not wish to see me as a friend, than see me as the man who is going to volunteer to be your defence at the court-martial. Will that be manageable?' spat George out. Not that he knew that there would be a court-martial, but the stone had been thrown and there was a chance the matter would come to it.

"No sir..I did not mean..." He had offended the man who had been nothing but kind to him. Willoughby felt saddened by that, for he meant not to cause hurt towards the captain whose kindness he could only be most honoured to receive.

"..As men...I would feel blessed that I were able to consider yourself as a friend." He lowered his gaze. "Though I do not know, what I can offer you in turn... " He hoped that the damage had not yet been done. Frustrated as he felt though, he supposed it had.

George whirled around.
'Only one thing, Willoughby. You will have to find it in yourself to trust me and not think me a spy, when I ask this. Did you withhold anything, anything at all from Pierce? If there is to be a court martial and I do obtain the position of your defence counsel I do not wish to be tripped up by a piece of information that was not made known to me'. George spoke softly as he apporoached Willoughby, sitting beside him on the bed.

"I am not sure. I have given him what I knew. But...of which of the trials do you speak of.. for it seems that I may soon expect to hold two. One.. that is , as you may be aware, on the grounds of my existence with the Second Division all from the time at which I have been lost, till the time to which I am now here."

He took a small breath: " And the second, on the grounds of a stone, I had thrown and which was meant, not for an officer, but for a damned crow which had soiled my uniform. There are no other chargers... I would hope." He did hope that the one about his and Newbury's little rabbit hunting trip had been forgotten and that this would not be brought against him as well.

Well with his manner he might as well have been of the green.

'Well, your officers have not come to a decision yet, maybe there won't be a court martial at all'. George smiled reassuringly. 'I am speaking of the assault charge. I shall see an officer of the 62nd presently and see if they have made a decision about that.' They might want to make an example of this boy and he was afraid of that.

"...I don't know. ..How it happened really.. , sir." He added somewhat hastly. "...I was present as they held the presentation of the skirmishing tactics. After I have stood there a while, the crow came and.. as I've told you.. then.. well, I threw the stone and left. That's all there is to it sir. I left to wipe the stain out of my pelisse.. since it is a tad harder with all the lace." He motioned to the coat that lay close to them.

"...But.." He shook his head. "That is all. I have not had in the past any dispute with the lieutenant, nor have I had much of an encounter with him. Only .. the other officer. Vickery. And.. even with him, I have or so I hope to consider, had a fair dealing with."

He worried the same. If it were considered an accident he could escape from the charge of a deliberate assault, for which he would have been killed. But for that, it should be considered one!

'That is good. If we can show that you had no reason to assault him, then we could at least get rid of the deliberate assault charge'. George paused. 'You said that you did not see where the stone went, and that is what you must keep to should there be a court martial'.

"Yes... well, I did see it go for the crow and miss. But once it had missed I did not think to follow it's path of progress any further."

He lowered his gaze briefly then nodded. " It is all that I could wish for.. the charge of the deliberate assault removed. I am willing to take the consequences of my.. actions of carelessness as those I admit to. I have not considered, as I should have and acted on impulse... hardly becoming, even of a soldier. " He had caught himself, before he would've said a gentleman.

George turned his head to look at Willoughby. 'It is an admirable notion, but I'd rather you didn't say it in court. I want to have you acquitted, not flogged!'

"..Yet .. I shall have to tell the truth.., sir. No? " He was not sure what he was to tell in court and he had only considered that he would answer the questions to the best he could and then hope, with the defense in place, that perhaps luck smiled on him. He did not want to be flogged though of course.

'Yes, you will tell the truth, but I beg you to refrain from saying anything a prejudiced court might misconstrue as admission of guilt or something similar'. George smiled lopsidedly.

Wiloughby nodded. He could and rather, he would do no different than to tell the truth. He did dread the trial, for it might come that he was asked questions which could shed light on things at the wrong angle. Hunter's warning was good, but if a question was asked even hesitation could come as an admission of guilt if the officer who was prosecuting was in the foul mood enough.

"..And..." He began more seriously. ".. what am I to say.. were I questioned about my guilt? For...I have been reckless as they suggest. Reckless at least to the point that I did not consider at all, what my action could lead to."

George tugged a lock of his hair, thinking. 'Well, I suppose there is no way around it. You have been reckless, yes, but what you are really accused of here is assaulting an officer. Should you be asked about your supposed guilt, I guess it would be in our interest if you showed you were contrite and regretted the throwing of the stone, but you must, and I repeat you must put more emphasis on the fact of who was your intented target and the fact that you did not follow the path of the stone. You did not see it hit anyone'.

George sighed, leaning back and supporting himself on his hands. 'I know this must all sound rather wily and underhanded to you, but in the end of the day it is just truth presented so that it would be in your favour.'

Willoughby nodded. "The truth presented as it is... " He smiled and found that the talk of one trial did distract his mind from the other , or the possibility thereof. He glanced down at his boots which would easily have passed inspection, as clean as he'd made them.

"Sir. Thank you for coming here. I had not known word travelled so fast, yet I am glad it did. Atleast for once." He hesitated and lowered his head. " I hope it will not cause to soil your honour that you are meeting with one..accused of .." His frown deepened. The accusation, so untrue, was also hurting. "..desertion. I would not wish to be the cause of any..of your discomforts, sir."

'Nonsense! My honour, if I have any, is exactly one of the reasons I am here. The bloody thing would never forgive me if I did not try and do something for you. Besides a name is just a name. The only reason I have tried to keep mine reasonably unsoiled is so that my mother can go about London with her head held high'. George grinned at the boy. 'If neither of us cared about such things as what others will say or how it would reflect on our families, I'd tell you straight off not to worry about any damned trials'.

'And you should thank Needham, I don't think the word has really spread yet, but he was nearby when you, er, got accused by Vereker, was it? He came to find me afterwards'.

"I do not know how to thank him enough then." He smiled. "And you of course." Though he was not sure how an rather unconventional meeting that had brought them to know of each other could have brought forth more benefits rather than harm. As he considered it, if Hunter had been a strict officer, perhaps one that would just be quick to accuse, he would have stood for an assault - even if his horse was to blame - a long while sooner.

He owed him, a mere private owed an officer. How strange that sounded. He was glad that Hunter did not mock him for the mention of honour as a private was to have only his duty after all.

"Do you have any thought on how soon the trial may take place...The one for... the stone."

George shook his head. 'No, I don't. I am sorry, but I am quite sure it will come after the decision has been made about the other charge. I'll try to find out of course as soon as I can.' George paused and looked at Timothy.

'Do you need anything? While you are stuck here?'. George remembered Bella. 'Do you know how your horse is? I am sure the little vixen is missing her master'.

Willoughby sighed. He remembered Lieutenant Waldegrave's words well. It wasn't his horse though he so called her. To be reminded of her, seemed to bring that idea back to his mind.

"Bella .. will probably be taken back.. now that I have been returned to my troop. Once my belongings are brought here it shall be perhaps the last time that I ..." He made a humourless chuckle. "....It must seem strange to you.. that I should miss her." He shook his head. "She is a sure minx. ..Don't let you go easy."

George frowned. The boy was obviously attached to his mount, and he failed miserably to obtain her. George felt more sorry for the boy now, than he had ever before, for he thought of his own Firebird and knew how terrible it would feel to have her taken away from him.
'She sure didn't. I think Firebird is still smarting over the fact that she was not the winner in that little fight'. He tugged at the collar of his uniform. 'It is a pity her current owner did not train her better. She is the regiment's, right?' He added, as he did not know already.

"The 62nd, sir." He replied, studying Hunter. He shifted at his seat on the bed.