Dr. Stephen Maturin (deepoldfile) wrote in sanditon, @ 2021-02-28 13:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: horatio hornblower, character: stephen maturin, player: aleksei, player: mira, status: in progress |
Who: Stephen Maturin and Horatio Hornblower
What: Tiger-hunting
When: Well past any reasonable hour
Where: Wherever the hunting takes them
Stephen was a man never lacking for reading material—and Whistledown's was admittedly more to someone like Cecilia Williams' tastes—but he could not help commandeering a copy of the gossip sheet he perceived disowned on a table, especially not after overhearing its prior owners speaking with most interesting and fervent speculations.
A plan was hatched. It took Stephen the remainder of the afternoon to acquire a pistol, on loan from his wealthier neighbor, Mr. Kent, whose wife seemed in an unusual hurry to part from it. "I am very much obliged to you," Stephen said to them both. While he did not disclose the nature of his need, he could not help noticing the now-familiar society page nestled between the tea and sugar bowl on Mrs. Kent's side of the room. It was his hope to return to the couple with glad tidings that their walks might resume unimperiled in the near future.
It was deep into the night by the time Stephen quit his own residence and traded it for another. The address given him by Horatio Hornblower was less than a mile's distance—as shabby an accommodation as his own, to be sure, though no less cheerful a sight on a night like this. Stephen announced his presence on the doorstep with a repetitious knock.
"Ah, Lieutenant Hornblower!" Stephen greeted brightly, in exact opposition to how the sun happened to be shining just then. "Last we met, I believe you were seeking a bit of diversion. It has come to my attention that there is something of a tiger on the loose. Have you any rope? What we most need is a lamb's shank, or even a live goat."