June 24th, evening: Having dinner with the Engineer

"If there is enough tea to go around, I should be very glad to join you," Vickery replied with a smile.

Cotton came up at that point, bearing a jumble of green and grey cloth which turned out to be a pair of Vickery's spare overalls and a greatcoat which he offered Captain Hunter with a slightly apologetic look.

Hunter eyed the pile with a slightly wide eyed look, then cleared his throat. "You won't mind, if I, er, get rid of my wet clothes first, would you?"

"Of course not," Vickery replied, indicating that Cotton should put the garments down on a nearby camp chair, before withdrawing from the tent to stand by the small fire that Rottlaender had lit to heat water for their tea.

Rottlaender nodded eagerly.

"Yes, it is enough tea here, Captain."

He smiled very gratefully at Cotton, abandoned his post for a minute and darted to the table again, lightning quick filling two cups, handing them after a nod from Torrington to Vickery and Hunter, then found and filled another one and handed it to Torrington. Finally he produced a large silver flask and, tongue between his teeth, offered to pour - first to Vickery, of course. He still eyed Hunter suspiciously, thinking him very much to blame for the whole incident. After all, he had dared to quarrel with his lordship.

[OOC: Ok, do tell me if its too ridiculous]

Hunter shook his head at Rottlander, not wanting anything except tea. He drank deeply, then set the cup down. He pulled off his boots, than his jacket and stockings. He turned away from the rest and pulled his shirt off quickly than grabbed the greatcoat Vickery kindly lent him and put it on, so he could change out of his breeches and into overalls under it.

Edward joined Vickery outside the tent to give Hunter some privacy and accepted a healthy dash of brandy from Rottlaender. He was slightly shivering now, though he did his best to control it; not much of an eater, he definitely lacked insulation, but he was still the host - until his guests were comfortable, his own needs had to wait.

At least the hot tea and brandy did help a bit.

"Have the piquets seen anything?", he asked Vickery, mainly to say anything at all.

The Rifle officer shook his head. "Hardly as much as a field mouse," he replied. "Which means that either they are asleep, or there is nothing for them to see."

He refrained from mentioning that Torrington and Hunter had given plenty of action for the soldiers to notice.

Hunter folded his wet clothing into a neat-ish pile and buttoned up the great coat over the overalls. He was feeling a bit chilled, but none the worse for the wear. He stepped out of the tent.

"Thank you again, Vickery. And you, Torrington, for letting me change first, now go do the same, before you catch a cold." He grinned.

Edward could not suppress the grateful expression on his face as he nodded. He excused himself politely, but then went into the tent rather quicker than was customary. Fortunately Rottlaender was only a step behind him and helped him out of his coat - the tight fit and soaking material made this rather difficult. Then he divested himself quickly of his other clothes and replaced them with the dry ones Rottlaender offered him, all the time casting anxious glances at his master and muttering something. Edward managed to piece together that Rottlaender was lamenting the absence of a hot bath - something Edward very much agreed with - but unfortunately he doubted that even his fortune could procure that right now. So instead he shrugged on his greatcoat, gratefully huddling into its warm folds, and begged Rottlaender to take care of the abandoned clothing. Then he stepped out of the tent again.

"Rottlaender will try to restore your clothes to a wearable condition", he informed Hunter. The light mood seemed to have gone with the dress uniform, and the engineer was behaving very cool and controlled again, even a bit distant.

"You are very welcome, Hunter," Vickery replied, turning at the sound of Hunter's voice behind him. Torrington went into the tent, emerging in turn in a clean undress uniform.

"From the looks of things, though, it might take a while to dry your coat out. I have to confess, I have never before seen someone go swimming in their dress uniform."

"Well, it was not so much a swim as a strategical manoeuvre," replied Hunter, than turned at the sound of Torrington's voice.

"Oh, it's quite alright. My batman will manage just fine, if you'll allow me to go and get them, I'll get out of your hair." Hunter smiled at Torrington, somewhat surprised at the change in man's tone.

Edward held open the tentflap.

"You are more than welcome to stay for as long as necessary, Captain Hunter. Please accept my apologies for the incident."

He did feel guilty about it. After all, a guest was not supposed to find himself soaking wet in the middle of an invitation - at least not without his previous consent and a set of fitting spare clothes handy.

Vickery, however, was favoured with a half-smile.

"Well, we wanted to look our best in a ridiculous situation", Edward murmured to him, sounding very matter-of-factly.

Vickery chose to keep his own counsel, merely inclining his head a little and arching his eyebrow, although a faint smile touched his mouth for a moment.

It certainly had been a ridiculous situation, but whose idea it had been, Vickery could not say.

"I trust you both recovered your sabres?" he asked after a moment, realising that nobody had mentioned the swords.

"Oh, yes. I would hate to lose it. One gets used to a weapon," Hunter said distractedly while looking at Torrington and wondering what on earth the man was apologising for.

Edward tried to focus on both men at once, failed, and settled on Vickery.

"Yes, I have mine, too. It seems we were both sensible enough not to loose hold on them."

He knew that the few things in his pockets, his pin and all his other things had come out of the water again. He even hoped that such things as his watch might have survived. He glanced into the tent. Rottlaender had filled the small brazier Edward kept with coals from the cooking fire. It glowed invitingly. Not entirely selfless, he suggested:

"Let's get in again. No need to stand outside in the breeze!"

"Certainly," Vickery replied, indicating that the others should go ahead of him. Precedence be damned; he hadn't gone swimming in full uniform, and the others still had damp hair. "At least you managed not lose anything vital," he said wryly, wondering what the wider reaction would have been when the Army heard that a supposedly staid and sensible Captain had lost his sword in the river for no good reason.

Hunter quite happily followed Torrington back into the tent and made a beeline to the brazier, trying not to hog too much space, so that Torrington could warm himself as well.

Edward followed as quickly as was possible without looking too eager and held out his hands towards the warmth.

"I may have briefly mislaid my commonsense, but otherwise everything is still present. How about you, Hunter?"

Hunter shot a brief sideways look at Torrington, then smiled mischievously.
"I was only afraid you might misplace your sense of fun and I might lose my life, but it looks like I was wrong."

Edward grinned back wryly.

"Believe me, Captain, the second would greatly contribute to the first."

George actually looked at Torrington properly this time, but the smile went from mischievous to small and a little shy, but it was perhaps the most genuine smile he had given Torrington so far.

Vickery looked from one to the other. "As it seems that you have put your differences aside, I shall take my leave - no doubt you wish to continue your evening without an interloper. Though I should recommend that you attempt to stay dry this time, please."

"I will do my best to keep the entertainment for the rest of the evening less exciting, I promise."

Torrington smiled and offered Vickery his hand.

"You are certainly no interloper, and I would be happy if you would stay, but if you have to continue your rounds, then please accept my apologies for disturbing them and my thanks for your help!"

"That is very kind in you," Vickery replied, giving Torrington's hand a firm shake. "I should be very willing to stay, if Captain Hunter also does not think I am intruding." He glanced over at that officer as he spoke, and tried not to smile too openly at the condition he was in.

"Of course not, Vickery. The more the merrier," he grinned wickedly at Vickery. "I am sure even our impromptu swim would have been much improved by your presence."