Peggy relaxed a little. There were enough clues in what Victor said for her to classify him as definitely nexus, which meant that she didn't need to work quite as hard on being understood. Though the locals were very forgiving, in general, they didn't always make the effort to bridge the communication gap.

"I read some Wordsworth one term," she commented slowly, working though the implications. "I can't remember a word of it. Does that have something to do with Darcy?" A sudden horrible suspicion entered her mind. "He doesn't write poetry, does he?"

The question of the war was a little bit more complicated. "Won't you sit down?" Peggy said, remembering her manners, and gesturing toward the other end of the garden bench. This could take a while. "I guess you can take the soldier away from the war, but you can't take the war away from the soldier?" she suggested as a first approximation. "I'm not really from around here," she added, an understatement.

"Quite frankly, war seems more civilized than some of the local customs, if my recent experience is any guide."