She helped herself to some bacon, eggs, and mushrooms from a silver tureen on the sideboard, warmed by a small spirit lamp, and opened it. It was from Charles. Glenfee Monday 27th April My dear Deborah, I felt I should write to you because you will surely have read in the newspapers of the highly successful landing of guns here, and will want to know that all went well with the men under my command. I am happy to tell you that they could not have behaved better. On the night of the 24th April . . . There followed a long, detailed account of the gun-running at Bangor. Deborah read it with surprise and intense interest. Many of the facts she had already gleaned from the newspapers, but the pride and excitement with which Charles told them gave them new life. It could so easily have gone wrong, she realised. It still could, if all this leads to a real shooting war. The letter ended: It will be a fine tale to tell Tom when I see him next weekend, as I hope.
