Sharpes Devil   ::   Корнуэлл Бернард

"Why not?"Cochrane stood beside him.

"Why would Vivar ride into the valley without an escort?"

"Because he didn't want anyone to see who he was going to meet?" Cochrane suggested.

"Meaning?"

Cochrane drew Sharpe away from the others, escorting him down the ramparts. His Lordship drew on a cigar, its smoke whirling away in the southern wind. "I think he was meeting Bautista. This man's story," Cochrane jerked his cigar toward Marcos, "confirms other things I've been hearing. Your friend Vivar had learned something about Bautista, something that would break Bautista's career. He was going to offer Bautista a choice: either a public humiliation or a private escape. I believe he went into the valley to meet Bautista, not knowing that Bautista would take neither choice, but had planned a coup d'etat. That's what we're talking about, Sharpe! A coup d'etat! And it worked brilliantly!"

"Then why didn't Bautista kill Vivar?"

Cochrane shrugged. "How do I know? Perhaps he was frightened? If everything went wrong, and Vivar's supporters rallied and opposed Bautista, he could still release Vivar and plead it was all a misunderstanding. That way, whatever other punishment he faced, Bautista would not have the iron collar around his neck, eh?" Cochrane grimaced in grotesque imitation of a man being garotted.

"But Don Bias must be dead by now!" Sharpe insisted. He had spoken in Spanish and loud enough for Marcos to hear.

"Senor?" Marcos's frightened face was lit from beneath by the lurid glow of the brazier's coals. "I think he was alive six weeks ago. That was when I left Valdivia, and I think General Vivar was alive then."

"How can you tell?" Sharpe asked scornfully.

The infantryman paused, then spoke low so that his voice scarcely carried along the battlements. "I can tell, serior, because the new Captain-General likes to visit the Angel Tower. He goes alone, after dark. He has a key. The tower has only one door, you understand, and they say there is only one key, and General Bautista has that key. I have seen him go there. Sometimes he takes an aide with him, a Captain Marquinez, but usually he goes alone."

"Oh, sweet Jesus." Sharpe rested his hands on the parapet and raised his face to the sea wind. The detail of Marquinez had convinced him. Dear God, he thought, but let this man be lying, for it would be better for Don Bias if he were dead.

"What are you thinking?" Cochrane asked softly.

"I'm frightened this man Marcos is telling the truth.