Sharpes Havoc   ::   Корнуэлл Бернард

„I was merelygoing to offer you felicitations, ma’am, for your marriage,” Sharpe said.

„Thank you, Lieutenant,” Kate said.

„Marry in haste,” Sharpe said and paused, and he saw the anger flare in her eyes and he smiled at her again, „is something folks often do in wartime,” he finished. „I’ll go round the outside of the house, ma’am.”

He left her to Vicente’s admiration and joined Harper on the terrace. „Is the bastard still talking?” he asked.

„The Colonel’s still talking to the Crapauds, sir,” Harper said, gazing through the telescope, „and they’re not coming any closer. The Colonel’s full of surprises, isn’t he?”

„Stuffed as full of them,” Sharpe said, „as a plum pudding.”

„So what do we do, sir?”

„We move Dan into a servant’s room by the kitchen. Let the doctor see him. If the doctor thinks he can travel then we’ll go to Amarante.”

„Do we take the girl?”

„Not if she’s married, Pat. We can’t do a bloody thing with her if she’s married. She belongs to him now, lock, stock and barrel.” Sharpe scratched under his collar where a louse had bitten. „Pretty girl.”

„Is she now? I hadn’t noticed.”

„You lying Irish bastard,” Sharpe said.

Harper grinned. „Aye, well, she’s smooth on the eye, sir, smooth as they come, but she’s also a married woman.”

„Off bounds, eh?”

„A colonel’s wife? I wouldn’t dream of it,” Harper said, „not if I were you.”

„I’m not dreaming, Patrick,” Sharpe said, „just wondering how to get the hell out of here. How do we go back home.”

„Back to the army?” Harper asked. „Or back to England?”

„God knows. Which would you want?”

They should have been in England. They all belonged to the second battalion of the 95th Rifles and that battalion was in the Shorncliffe barracks, but Sharpe and his men had been separated from the rest of the greenjackets during the scrambling retreat to Vigo and somehow they had never managed to rejoin. Captain Hogan had seen to that. Hogan needed men to protect him while he mapped the wild frontier country between Spain and Portugal and a squad of prime riflemen were heavensent and he had cleverly managed to confuse the paperwork, reroute letters, scratch pay from the military chest and so keep Sharpe and his men close to the war.

„England holds nothing for me,” Harper said, „I’m happier here.