JК
Sharpes Devil :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 89 из 209The sound of the cannon was tremendous; loud enough to rattle the iron chandelier and hurt the eardrums of the men crowded at the windows. Harper crossed himself. Bautista licked his lips, and Ferdinand died in a maelstrom of smoke, fire and blood. Sharpe glimpsed the Indian's shattered trunk whirling blood as it was blasted away from the parapet, then the smoke blew apart to reveal a splintered stake, a pair of bloody legs, and lumps and spatters of blood and flesh smeared across the cannon's embrasure. The rest of Ferdinand's body had been scattered into the outer harbor where screaming gulls, excited by this sudden largesse, dived and tore and fought for shreds of his flesh. Far out to sea, beyond the rocky spit of land, the cannon-ball crashed into the swell with a sudden white plume, while in the nearer waters, scraps of flesh and splinters of bone and drops of blood rained down to the frenzied gulls. Men had rushed to the rail of the American brigantine, fearful of what the gunfire meant, and now they stared in puzzlement at the blood-flecked water. Bautista sighed with pleasure, then turned away as the white-faced gun crew heaved the dead man's legs over the parapet.
There was a stunned silence in the hall. The stench of powder smoke and fresh blood was keen in the air as Bautista, half smiling, turned to his audience. "Mister Blair?"
"Your Excellency?" George Blair ducked an eager and frightened pace forward.
"You have heard my questions to Mister Sharpe today?"
"Indeed, Your Excellency."
"Do you confirm that I have treated the prisoners fairly? And with consideration?"
Blair smirked and nodded. "Indeed, Your Excellency."
Bautista went to the table and held up the signed portrait of Napoleon and the folded message. "You heard the prisoner's assertion that Napoleon wrote this message?"
"I did, Your Excellency, indeed I did."
"And you see it is addressed to a notorious rebel?"
"I do, Your Excellency, indeed I do."
Bautista's face twitched with amusement. "Tell me, Blair, how your government will respond to the news that Mister Sharpe was acting as an errand boy for Bonaparte?"
"They will doubtless regard any such message as treasonable correspondence, Your Excellency." Blair bobbed obsequiously.
Bautista smiled, and no wonder, for Sharpe's possession of the Emperor's message was enough to condemn Sharpe, not just with the Spanish, but with the British too.
There was a stunned silence in the hall. The stench of powder smoke and fresh blood was keen in the air as Bautista, half smiling, turned to his audience. "Mister Blair?"
"Your Excellency?" George Blair ducked an eager and frightened pace forward.
"You have heard my questions to Mister Sharpe today?"
"Indeed, Your Excellency."
"Do you confirm that I have treated the prisoners fairly? And with consideration?"
Blair smirked and nodded. "Indeed, Your Excellency."
Bautista went to the table and held up the signed portrait of Napoleon and the folded message. "You heard the prisoner's assertion that Napoleon wrote this message?"
"I did, Your Excellency, indeed I did."
"And you see it is addressed to a notorious rebel?"
"I do, Your Excellency, indeed I do."
Bautista's face twitched with amusement. "Tell me, Blair, how your government will respond to the news that Mister Sharpe was acting as an errand boy for Bonaparte?"
"They will doubtless regard any such message as treasonable correspondence, Your Excellency." Blair bobbed obsequiously.
Bautista smiled, and no wonder, for Sharpe's possession of the Emperor's message was enough to condemn Sharpe, not just with the Spanish, but with the British too.