"I had speech yesterday with an officer who had ridden over
from this camp, and he told me that the doctors said you were now
convalescent, but would need repose and quiet for some time before
you could again buckle on armour. The countess, when I told her,
said at once, 'Then we will take him away back with us to Mansfeld.'
Thekla clapped her hands and said, `That will be capital! we will
look after him, and he shall tell us stories about the wars.'
"So the thing was settled at once. I have brought over with me a
horse litter, and have seen your surgeon, who says that although it
will be some weeks before you can sit on a horse without the risk
of your wound bursting out internally, there is no objection to
your progression in a litter by easy stages; so that is settled,
and the doctor will write to your colonel saying that it will be
some months before you are fit for duty, and that he has therefore
ordered you change and quiet.
"You need not be afraid of neglecting your duty or of getting out
of the way of risking your life in harebrained ventures, for there
will be no fighting till the spring. Everyone is negotiating at
present, and you will be back with your regiment before fighting
begins again. Well, what do you say?"
"I thank you, indeed," Malcolm replied. "It will of all things be
the most pleasant; the doctor has told me that I shall not be fit
for duty until the spring, and I have been wondering how ever I
should be able to pass the time until then.
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