“Very generous, brother,” said Benedict, his voice redolent with astonishment and a keen sense of injury, Nor was his tone a liar, for he picked up a paddle that he had been using to stir the wine in the vat, and struck out at his brother so forcefully that Gilbert would certainly have been killed had he not stepped sideways to avoid the blow.
If the older brother had had a weapon in his pack he would surely have fetched it out, or had there been something close at hand that would serve as a cudgel he would surely have improvised—but he had no weapon of his own, and there was nothing nearby that would serve such a purpose.
What Gilbert did instead, therefore, was to remove the stopper from the flask and put it to his lips, saying: “Strike at me again, brother, and I will down the lot—bot
