JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 65 из 242She was the Beatrice to his Dante, the unapproachable English girl from the big house on the hill and now she was married to Colonel Christopher.
And that, Sharpe thought, explained the silly bitch’s disappearance. She had eloped! But what Sharpe still did not understand was why she would need to conceal such a love from her mother who would surely approve of her choice? Christopher, so far as Sharpe could tell, was well born, affluent, properly educated and a gentleman: all the things, indeed, that Sharpe was not. Christopher was also very annoyed and, when Sharpe reached the Quinta, the Colonel faced him from the front steps and again demanded an explanation for the rifleman’s presence in Vila Real de Zedes.
„I told you,” Sharpe said, „we were cut off. We couldn’t cross the river.”
„Sir,” Christopher snapped, then waited for Sharpe to repeat the word, but Sharpe just stared past the Colonel into the Quinta’s hallway where he could see Kate unpacking clothes from the big leather valise.
„I gave you orders,” Christopher said.
„We couldn’t cross the river,” Sharpe said, „because there wasn’t a bridge. It broke. So we went to the ferry, but the damned Frogs had burned it, so now we’re going to Amarante, but we can’t use the main roads because the Frogs are swarming over them like lice, and I can’t go fast because I’ve got a wounded man and is there a room here where we can put him tonight?”
Christopher said nothing for a moment. He was waiting for Sharpe to call him „sir,” but the rifleman stubbornly stayed silent. Christopher sighed and glanced across the valley to where a buzzard circled. „You expect to stay here tonight?” he asked distantly.
„We’ve marched since three this morning,” Sharpe said. He was not sure they had left at three o’clock because he had no watch, but it sounded about right. „We’ll rest now,” he said, „then march again before tomorrow’s dawn.”
„The French,” Christopher said, „will be at Amarante.”
„No doubt they will,” Sharpe said, „but what else am I to do?”
Christopher flinched at Sharpe’s surly tone, then shuddered as Hagman moaned. „There’s a stable block behind the house,” he said coldly, „put your wounded man there. And who the devil is that?” He had noticed Vicente’s prisoner, Lieutenant Olivier.
Sharpe turned to see where the Colonel was looking. „A Frog,” he answered, „whose throat I’m going to cut.”
Christopher stared in horror at Sharpe.
And that, Sharpe thought, explained the silly bitch’s disappearance. She had eloped! But what Sharpe still did not understand was why she would need to conceal such a love from her mother who would surely approve of her choice? Christopher, so far as Sharpe could tell, was well born, affluent, properly educated and a gentleman: all the things, indeed, that Sharpe was not. Christopher was also very annoyed and, when Sharpe reached the Quinta, the Colonel faced him from the front steps and again demanded an explanation for the rifleman’s presence in Vila Real de Zedes.
„I told you,” Sharpe said, „we were cut off. We couldn’t cross the river.”
„Sir,” Christopher snapped, then waited for Sharpe to repeat the word, but Sharpe just stared past the Colonel into the Quinta’s hallway where he could see Kate unpacking clothes from the big leather valise.
„I gave you orders,” Christopher said.
„We couldn’t cross the river,” Sharpe said, „because there wasn’t a bridge. It broke. So we went to the ferry, but the damned Frogs had burned it, so now we’re going to Amarante, but we can’t use the main roads because the Frogs are swarming over them like lice, and I can’t go fast because I’ve got a wounded man and is there a room here where we can put him tonight?”
Christopher said nothing for a moment. He was waiting for Sharpe to call him „sir,” but the rifleman stubbornly stayed silent. Christopher sighed and glanced across the valley to where a buzzard circled. „You expect to stay here tonight?” he asked distantly.
„We’ve marched since three this morning,” Sharpe said. He was not sure they had left at three o’clock because he had no watch, but it sounded about right. „We’ll rest now,” he said, „then march again before tomorrow’s dawn.”
„The French,” Christopher said, „will be at Amarante.”
„No doubt they will,” Sharpe said, „but what else am I to do?”
Christopher flinched at Sharpe’s surly tone, then shuddered as Hagman moaned. „There’s a stable block behind the house,” he said coldly, „put your wounded man there. And who the devil is that?” He had noticed Vicente’s prisoner, Lieutenant Olivier.
Sharpe turned to see where the Colonel was looking. „A Frog,” he answered, „whose throat I’m going to cut.”
Christopher stared in horror at Sharpe.