"Did you hear the news?" Elliot never disappointed when it came to spreading gossip.
"What news is that?" Jack asked.
"Nicholas is dead."
"Oh?" Jack raised what he hoped was a languid eyebrow in the most fashionable manner he could. "And who, pray, is Nicholas?"
"The Tsar, you muff!" Elliot said excitedly. "He died on the 21st February. His son, Alexander is the new tsar."
"Does that affect us?" Jack wondered.
Elliot shrugged and uncorked the flask that was now his constant companion. "I"m sure I don"t know," he said. "I get to hear things; I can"t predict the future."
Jack looked out of the tent flap. A consignment of huts had arrived to help the army combat the cold, and a force of navigators was busily building a railway line from Balaklava to the British camp. After a winter whe
