“Robert Powrie’s doing the work of ten men,” Thomas enthused as he returned from Anton’s Walls to find Eleanor lying on her bed. “I’ve never known a man work so hard. I wish I had him in the regiment during the war; we’d have defeated the Huns a year earlier!”
Eleanor laughed. “I’m glad you are making a new friend,” she said.
“There’s nothing he can’t turn his hand to,” Thomas said. He lowered his voice. “He only drinks wine, too. Not beer or whisky or even tea. Only red wine, and he’s mean with it too. He never shares.”
“I’m surprised he can find any wine here,” Eleanor said.
“He told me he gets it from Hawick,” Thomas told her. “More importantly, he’s a keen fisherman and knows all the local angler’s neuks1 and pools.”
“That is highly important.” Eleanor did not keep the sarcasm fro
