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Sharpes Devil :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 25 из 209"So isn't it likely," Sharpe spoke as gently as he could, "that Don Bias was ambushed by his own side?"
"Indeed it's possible!" Louisa said. "In fact I believe that is precisely what happened. But I would like to be certain."
Sharpe sighed. "If Don Bias was ambushed by his own side, then they are not going to reveal what happened." Sharpe hated delivering such a hopeless opinion, but he knew it was true. "I'm sorry, my lady, but you're never going to know what happened."
But Louisa could not accept so bleak a verdict. Her instinct had convinced her that Don Bias was alive, and that conviction had brought her into the deep, private valley where Sharpe farmed Lucille's land. Sharpe wondered how he was going to rid himself of her. He suspected it would not be easy, for Dona Louisa was clearly obsessed by her husband's fate.
"Do you want me to write to the Spanish authorities?" he offered. "Or perhaps ask the Duke of Wellington to use his influence?"
"What good will that do?" Louisa challenged. "I've used every influence I can, till the authorities are sick of me. I don't need influence, I need the truth." Louisa paused, then took the plunge. "I want you to go to Chile and find me that truth."
Lucille's gray eyes widened in surprise, while Sharpe, equally astonished at the effrontery of Louisa's request, said nothing. Beyond the moat, in the elms that grew beside the orchard, rooks cawed loud and a house-martin sliced on saber wings between the dairy and the horse-chestnut tree. "There must be men in South America who are in a better position to search for your husband?" Lucille remarked very mildly.
"How do I trust them? Those officers who were friends of my husband have either been sent home or posted to remote garrisons. I sent money to other officers who claimed to be friends of Don Bias, but all I received in return are the same lies. They merely wish me to send more money, and thus they encourage me with hope but not with facts. Besides, such men cannot speak to the rebels."
"And I can?" Sharpe asked.
"You can find out whether they ambushed Don Bias, or whether someone else set the trap."
Sharpe, from all he had heard, doubted whether any rebels had been involved. "By someone else," he said diplomatically, "I assume you mean the man Don Bias was riding to confront? The Governor of, where was it?"
"Puerto Crucero, and the governor's name was Miguel Bautista," Louisa spoke the name with utter loathing, "and Miguel Bautista is Chile's new Captain-General. That snake has replaced Don Bias! He writes me flowery letters of condolence, but the truth is that he hated Don Bias and has done nothing to help me.
"Indeed it's possible!" Louisa said. "In fact I believe that is precisely what happened. But I would like to be certain."
Sharpe sighed. "If Don Bias was ambushed by his own side, then they are not going to reveal what happened." Sharpe hated delivering such a hopeless opinion, but he knew it was true. "I'm sorry, my lady, but you're never going to know what happened."
But Louisa could not accept so bleak a verdict. Her instinct had convinced her that Don Bias was alive, and that conviction had brought her into the deep, private valley where Sharpe farmed Lucille's land. Sharpe wondered how he was going to rid himself of her. He suspected it would not be easy, for Dona Louisa was clearly obsessed by her husband's fate.
"Do you want me to write to the Spanish authorities?" he offered. "Or perhaps ask the Duke of Wellington to use his influence?"
"What good will that do?" Louisa challenged. "I've used every influence I can, till the authorities are sick of me. I don't need influence, I need the truth." Louisa paused, then took the plunge. "I want you to go to Chile and find me that truth."
Lucille's gray eyes widened in surprise, while Sharpe, equally astonished at the effrontery of Louisa's request, said nothing. Beyond the moat, in the elms that grew beside the orchard, rooks cawed loud and a house-martin sliced on saber wings between the dairy and the horse-chestnut tree. "There must be men in South America who are in a better position to search for your husband?" Lucille remarked very mildly.
"How do I trust them? Those officers who were friends of my husband have either been sent home or posted to remote garrisons. I sent money to other officers who claimed to be friends of Don Bias, but all I received in return are the same lies. They merely wish me to send more money, and thus they encourage me with hope but not with facts. Besides, such men cannot speak to the rebels."
"And I can?" Sharpe asked.
"You can find out whether they ambushed Don Bias, or whether someone else set the trap."
Sharpe, from all he had heard, doubted whether any rebels had been involved. "By someone else," he said diplomatically, "I assume you mean the man Don Bias was riding to confront? The Governor of, where was it?"
"Puerto Crucero, and the governor's name was Miguel Bautista," Louisa spoke the name with utter loathing, "and Miguel Bautista is Chile's new Captain-General. That snake has replaced Don Bias! He writes me flowery letters of condolence, but the truth is that he hated Don Bias and has done nothing to help me.