CHAPTER TWOThe Duke and Major Haverington galloped their horses for over a mile before they pulled them up to a slow trot.
It was still very early in the morning – the sun had not yet dispersed the mist over the river and the dew was heavy on the grass.
Despite the fact that the Duke had not gone to bed until five o’clock, he looked amazingly fit.
After bringing Richard back to Kingswood, he had sent a groom post haste for the local doctor, and, when he arrived, there had been the difficult task of locating the bullet and removing it.
Fortunately Doctor Emerson was a skilled surgeon. He had served in the Army and was therefore experienced in gunshot wounds.
“A fraction of an inch lower, Your Grace,” he said when the operation was over, “and there would have been no hope of saving Mr.
