JК
Sharpes Devil :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 49 из 209"If you want a whore, Colonel," Blair went on, "there's a chingana behind the church. Ask for the girl they call La Monja!" Blair rolled his eyes heavenward to indicate what exquisite joys awaited Sharpe and Harper if they followed his advice. "She's a mestizo."
"What's a mestizo?" Harper asked.
"Half-breed, and that one's half woman and half wildcat."
"I'd rather hear about Bautista," Sharpe said.
"I've told you, there's nothing to tell. Man's a bastard. Cross him and you get butchered. He's judge, jury and executioner here. He's also horribly efficient. You want some more rum?"
Sharpe glanced at the two Indian girls who, holding their jugs of wine and rum, stood expressionless at the edge of the room. "No."
'You can have them, too," Blair said hospitably. "Help yourselves, both of you! I know they look like cows, but they know their way up and down a bed. No point in employing them otherwise. They can't cook and their idea of cleaning a room is to rearrange the dirt, so what else are they good for? And in the dark you don't know they're savages, do you?"
Sharpe again tried to turn the conversation back to his own business. "I need to find the American Consul. Does he live close?"
"What the hell do you want Fielding for?" Blair sounded offended, as though Sharpe's question suggested that Fielding was a better Consul than Blair.
Sharpe had no intention of revealing that he possessed a signed portrait of Napoleon which the American Consul was supposed to smuggle to a British Colonel now living in the rebel part of the country, so instead he made up a story about doing business for an American expatriate living in Normandy.
"Well, you're out of luck," Blair said with evident satisfaction. "Fielding's away from Valdivia this week. One of his precious whaling boats was impounded by the Spanish Navy, so he's on Chiloe, trying to have the bribe reduced to something under a King's ransom."
"Chiloe?" Sharpe asked.
"Island down south. Long way away. But Fielding will be back in a week or so."
Sharpe hid his disappointment. He had been hoping to deliver the portrait quickly, then forget about the Emperor's gift, but now, if he were to keep his promise to Bonaparte, he would have to find some other way of reaching Fielding. "Have you ever heard of a Lieutenant Colonel Charles?" He asked Blair as casually as he could.
"Charles? Of course I've heard of Charles. He's one of O'Higgins's military advisers.
"What's a mestizo?" Harper asked.
"Half-breed, and that one's half woman and half wildcat."
"I'd rather hear about Bautista," Sharpe said.
"I've told you, there's nothing to tell. Man's a bastard. Cross him and you get butchered. He's judge, jury and executioner here. He's also horribly efficient. You want some more rum?"
Sharpe glanced at the two Indian girls who, holding their jugs of wine and rum, stood expressionless at the edge of the room. "No."
'You can have them, too," Blair said hospitably. "Help yourselves, both of you! I know they look like cows, but they know their way up and down a bed. No point in employing them otherwise. They can't cook and their idea of cleaning a room is to rearrange the dirt, so what else are they good for? And in the dark you don't know they're savages, do you?"
Sharpe again tried to turn the conversation back to his own business. "I need to find the American Consul. Does he live close?"
"What the hell do you want Fielding for?" Blair sounded offended, as though Sharpe's question suggested that Fielding was a better Consul than Blair.
Sharpe had no intention of revealing that he possessed a signed portrait of Napoleon which the American Consul was supposed to smuggle to a British Colonel now living in the rebel part of the country, so instead he made up a story about doing business for an American expatriate living in Normandy.
"Well, you're out of luck," Blair said with evident satisfaction. "Fielding's away from Valdivia this week. One of his precious whaling boats was impounded by the Spanish Navy, so he's on Chiloe, trying to have the bribe reduced to something under a King's ransom."
"Chiloe?" Sharpe asked.
"Island down south. Long way away. But Fielding will be back in a week or so."
Sharpe hid his disappointment. He had been hoping to deliver the portrait quickly, then forget about the Emperor's gift, but now, if he were to keep his promise to Bonaparte, he would have to find some other way of reaching Fielding. "Have you ever heard of a Lieutenant Colonel Charles?" He asked Blair as casually as he could.
"Charles? Of course I've heard of Charles. He's one of O'Higgins's military advisers.