Safari journal, page 35: no trial.
I didn’t entirely agree with Stefan about the merits of having not been there, though. If I had been there, perhaps I could have stopped those men? I might have prevented the attack altogether. I still feel a twinge of guilt.
Whether or not one thought the men deserved hanging, one wondered, can dissension in the ranks be far behind? I was not inclined to linger to find out. And what became of the Baronet, of Lady Nav, and the poor victim? I didn’t learn that until many years later.
Transcript
April 30: Morning, clear and cool, light wind from the north east. Stefan found me at the inn. He told me I’d made the right decision. During the night, two of the men-at-arms tried to rape a servant and were caught by the sergent. At dawn they were hung by the neck from a tree in the courtyard. The woman was given ten lashes. The sergent seemed well satisfied, but the baronet (I caught a glimpse of him through the window) was as unreadable as a rock. Lady Nav was not to be seen.
Hmmm, whipping the victim. How…medieval. And, yet, we still do that today, as if the victim were somehow at fault.
Is this a crusade the ladies will undertake when their adventures continue?
Yeah, eventually that loose thread will be woven in. Probably. Maybe. Or not.