JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 3 из 242A bloody, goddamned miserable poxed bollocks of an agglomerated halfwitted shambles.” The round shot landed somewhere in the lower town and precipitated the splintering crash of a collapsing roof. Captain Hogan took out his snuffbox and inhaled a mighty pinch.
„Bless you,” Sergeant Harper said.
Captain Hogan sneezed and Harper smiled.
„Her name,” Hogan said, ignoring Harper, „is Catherine or, rather, Kate. Kate Savage, nineteen years old and in need, my God, how she is in need, of a thrashing! A hiding! A damned good smacking, that’s what she needs, Richard. A copper-sheathed, goddamned bloody good walloping.”
„So where the hell is she?” Sharpe asked.
„Her mother thinks she might have gone to Vila Real de Zedes,” Captain Hogan said, „wherever in God’s holy hell that might be. But the family has an estate there. A place where they go to escape the summer heat.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
„So why would she go there, sir?” Sergeant Harper asked.
„Because she’s a fatherless nineteen-year-old girl,” Hogan said, „who insists on having her own way. Because she’s fallen out with her mother. Because she’s a bloody idiot who deserves a ruddy good hiding. Because, oh I don’t know why! Because she’s young and knows everything, that’s why.” Hogan was a stocky, middle-aged Irishman, a Royal Engineer, with a shrewd face, a soft brogue, graying hair and a charitable disposition. „Because she’s a bloody halfwit, that’s why,” he finished.
„This Vila Real de whatever,” Sharpe said, „is it far? Why don’t we just fetch her?”
„Which is precisely what I’ve told the mother you will do, Richard. You will go to Vila Real de Zedes, you will find the wretched girl and you will get her across the river. We’ll wait for you in Vila Nova and if the damned French capture Vila Nova then we’ll wait for you in Coimbra.” He paused as he penciled these instructions on a scrap of paper. „And if the Frogs take Coimbra we’ll wait for you in Lisbon, and if the bastards take Lisbon we’ll be pissing our breeches in London and you’ll be God knows where. Don’t fall in love with her,” he went on, handing Sharpe the piece of paper, „don’t get the silly girl pregnant, don’t give her the thrashing she bloody well deserves and don’t, for the love of Christ, lose her, and don’t lose Colonel Christopher either. Am I plain?”
„Colonel Christopher is coming with us?” Sharpe asked, appalled.
„Bless you,” Sergeant Harper said.
Captain Hogan sneezed and Harper smiled.
„Her name,” Hogan said, ignoring Harper, „is Catherine or, rather, Kate. Kate Savage, nineteen years old and in need, my God, how she is in need, of a thrashing! A hiding! A damned good smacking, that’s what she needs, Richard. A copper-sheathed, goddamned bloody good walloping.”
„So where the hell is she?” Sharpe asked.
„Her mother thinks she might have gone to Vila Real de Zedes,” Captain Hogan said, „wherever in God’s holy hell that might be. But the family has an estate there. A place where they go to escape the summer heat.” He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
„So why would she go there, sir?” Sergeant Harper asked.
„Because she’s a fatherless nineteen-year-old girl,” Hogan said, „who insists on having her own way. Because she’s fallen out with her mother. Because she’s a bloody idiot who deserves a ruddy good hiding. Because, oh I don’t know why! Because she’s young and knows everything, that’s why.” Hogan was a stocky, middle-aged Irishman, a Royal Engineer, with a shrewd face, a soft brogue, graying hair and a charitable disposition. „Because she’s a bloody halfwit, that’s why,” he finished.
„This Vila Real de whatever,” Sharpe said, „is it far? Why don’t we just fetch her?”
„Which is precisely what I’ve told the mother you will do, Richard. You will go to Vila Real de Zedes, you will find the wretched girl and you will get her across the river. We’ll wait for you in Vila Nova and if the damned French capture Vila Nova then we’ll wait for you in Coimbra.” He paused as he penciled these instructions on a scrap of paper. „And if the Frogs take Coimbra we’ll wait for you in Lisbon, and if the bastards take Lisbon we’ll be pissing our breeches in London and you’ll be God knows where. Don’t fall in love with her,” he went on, handing Sharpe the piece of paper, „don’t get the silly girl pregnant, don’t give her the thrashing she bloody well deserves and don’t, for the love of Christ, lose her, and don’t lose Colonel Christopher either. Am I plain?”
„Colonel Christopher is coming with us?” Sharpe asked, appalled.