17th Juli 1809: Putting holes into things

Vickery gave his friend a wry smile, which turned genuine as he spoke. "Oh, you are very welcome to keep Pye as well - but please do not blame me if you wake up one morning and find your hair has turned grey. I really have no idea what scrape they will find themselves in next."

And yes, he really did need to find someone suitable for Delacroix's servant, before too much longer.

With a wry expression, Edward touched his temples.

"The charming thing is that they don't seem to know that either - but still inevitably find one. But I don't think dispensing with their services will save me from the fallout, so I might as well get the best out of it."

He smiled as the best in the form of cups and a freshly brewed pot of tea appeared.

"I can forbid them from doing something, and they will obey me, of course. But they will inevitably find a new way of causing mayhem that I cannot possibly anticipate and forbid until they have done it. The time I required Pye to request permission if he wished to leave the immediate vicinity of our camp - he did so, and then later returned the ticket I gave him absolutely soaked through, as though he had laid it in a saucer of water. And he was just as wet through as the ticket."

He smiled, and leaned forward to pour them each a cup of tea.

Edward accepted the cup gratefully, then unconsciously reached for his sketch-book. The picture of Pye, bedraggled like a wet rat, holding out a soaking ticket to Vickery, was just too good to miss.

"Maybe you should forbit them to do anything you can't think off - until they have puzzled that one out, you probably will have some peace!"

"I think they would be afraid to breathe unless given direct permission in that case," Vickery said, laughing. "It does seem a sensible suggestion, given their propensities, however."

He quirked an eyebrow questioningly at Torrington's sketchbook. "You will have to show me the finished product - it really was the drollest sight imaginable. So perfectly polite and correct - and drench right through as though he had been swimming fully-clothed."

Edward quickly changed a few lines as Vickery's description fleshed the picture out even more.

"Well, then let's store it up for bad days ... Admit that without their escapades, life would be rather boring here sometimes."

The engineer quickly wrote the date in one corner, then handed the open sketchbook to Vickery.

"That is certainly true," Vickery replied. "I think I am either in the wrong career, or the wrong branch of it - although it is probably very good preparation for the day I will marry and find myself head of a household of children." Not that such a thing was easy to imagine.

He took the sketchbook when it was passed to him. "Oh, that is very good - were you spying on us? You have caught him perfectly!"