A Matter of Honor by William C. Hammond

Author:William C. Hammond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McBooks Press
Published: 2021-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

9

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FAREHAM, ENGLAND

Spring 1779

THE DEEP GASH ON his forehead was not the only injury suffered by Richard in the fall from the horse. He had landed on his right side, his thigh absorbing the first hard blow from the ground. He hit so hard he had bounced several feet back up in the air and had landed a second time hard against his ribs. He would have broken several ribs, the doctors informed the Cutler family, had he not fallen the way he did, his thigh, in effect, cushioning the blow to his upper body As it was, he had fractured two of them, and the muscle tissue in his right leg had been severely bruised. He would need to be bedridden for a few days. After that, he would have to go slow for another week or two, walking off the pain and avoiding serious physical activity. He was lucky, they said. Very, very lucky.

Richard did not feel lucky. It pained him to be laid up as he was, just as the joys of summer were approaching their zenith and there was always much to do within and around the Cutler household. Since almost the day of their arrival, Will and Richard had basked in the limelight at Fareham. The young ladies found them thoroughly engaging, so Lizzy claimed, and the young men sought their world views, their participation in games, and, Richard suspected, the attentions of Lizzy Cutler and particularly Katherine Hardcastle, who, often in the company of her younger brother Jamie, now made regular visits to the Cutler estate.

Richard found himself looking forward more and more to Katherine’s visits. They became the centerpiece of his day and it crushed him whenever she was unable to come. Will teased him unmercifully about this, his brother’s feelings for Katherine almost painfully obvious since the time the two had first met, and sometimes Lizzy and Robin joined in the fun. Richard didn’t mind. In those days it seemed as though the mere sound of Katherine’s voice was enough to carry him forward, willingly, to whatever destiny awaited him.

There came a day when he was up and about but not yet able, he felt, to participate in the social goings-on his aunt and uncle were hosting in their home during the late afternoon. They had invited many of their neighbors, especially the younger ones. There were a number of people about, including several nobles. Richard sat alone in his uncle’s study, feeling clumsy and boorish with his injured leg up on a footstool. He could clearly hear laughter—her laughter—coming from another part of the house, and he resented the young gallants so obviously circling around her. Far more, he resented the way she seemed to be enjoying their attentions.

When she found him sitting there, her cheery disposition did not have its normal effect.

“Richard, whatever are you doing in here alone? I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Come, join us. These are your friends.”

“It seems they are more your friends than mine,” he pouted, instantly regretting his words and tone.

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