VIII | Pepperlung
He told Pepperlung nothing of his visit with the widow, nor did he discuss it with any of his other brothers. He retreated into himself; and, because he’d never been inclined to spend much time in the company of any one niche or group of people, his further alienation from friends and colleagues went largely unnoticed.
It was to be a time of discovery. He delved headlong into the books Chantilly provided him and his readings always culminated in a long conversation with her concerning the meaning of the letters he’d read. Soon old ideas and viewpoints began to fall away—even as the auburn leaves began seesawing past the barracks’ windows, and by the arrival of winter he’d undergone a stunning, if incomplete, transformation.
But his gradual enlightenment was not to proc
