JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 73 из 242” The Portuguese lieutenant did not translate the last four words.
Sharpe was summoned to Colonel Christopher soon after sunrise and found the Colonel seated in the parlor and swathed in hot towels as Luis shaved him. „He used to be a barber,” the Colonel said. „Weren’t you a barber, Luis?”
„A good one,” Luis said.
„You look as if you could do with a barber, Sharpe,” Christopher said. „Cut your own hair, do you?”
„No, sir.”
„Looks like it. Looks like the rats got to it.” The razor made a slight scratching noise as it glided down his chin. Luis wiped the blade with a flannel, scraped again. „My wife,” Christopher said, „will have to stay here. I ain’t happy.”
„No, sir?”
„But she ain’t safe anywhere else, is she? She can’t go to Oporto, it’s full of Frenchmen who are raping anything that isn’t dead and probably things that are dead if they’re still fresh, and they won’t get the place under decent control for another day or two, so she must stay here, and I’ll feel a great deal more comfortable, Sharpe, if she’s protected. So you will guard my wife, let your wounded fellow recover, have a rest, contemplate God’s ineffable ways and in a week or so I’ll be back and you can go.”
Sharpe looked out of the window where a gardener was scything the lawn, probably the first cut of the year. The scythe slid through the pale blossoms blown from the wisteria. „Mrs. Christopher could accompany you south, sir,” he suggested.
„No, she bloody well can’t,” Christopher snapped. „I told her it’s too dangerous. Captain Argenton and I have to get through the lines, Sharpe, and we won’t make things easier for ourselves by taking a woman with us.” The true reason, of course, was that he did not want Kate to meet her mother and tell her of the marriage in Vila Real de Zedes’s small church. „So Kate will stay here,” Christopher went on, „and you will treat her with respect.” Sharpe said nothing, just looked at the Colonel, who had the grace to shift uncomfortably. „Of course you will,” Christopher said. „I’ll have a word with the village priest on our way out and make sure his people deliver food for you. Bread, beans and a bullock should do your fellows for a week, eh? And for God’s sake don’t make yourselves obvious; I don’t want the French sacking this house. There’s some damn fine pipes of port in the cellars and I don’t want your rogues helping themselves.”
„They won’t, sir,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe was summoned to Colonel Christopher soon after sunrise and found the Colonel seated in the parlor and swathed in hot towels as Luis shaved him. „He used to be a barber,” the Colonel said. „Weren’t you a barber, Luis?”
„A good one,” Luis said.
„You look as if you could do with a barber, Sharpe,” Christopher said. „Cut your own hair, do you?”
„No, sir.”
„Looks like it. Looks like the rats got to it.” The razor made a slight scratching noise as it glided down his chin. Luis wiped the blade with a flannel, scraped again. „My wife,” Christopher said, „will have to stay here. I ain’t happy.”
„No, sir?”
„But she ain’t safe anywhere else, is she? She can’t go to Oporto, it’s full of Frenchmen who are raping anything that isn’t dead and probably things that are dead if they’re still fresh, and they won’t get the place under decent control for another day or two, so she must stay here, and I’ll feel a great deal more comfortable, Sharpe, if she’s protected. So you will guard my wife, let your wounded fellow recover, have a rest, contemplate God’s ineffable ways and in a week or so I’ll be back and you can go.”
Sharpe looked out of the window where a gardener was scything the lawn, probably the first cut of the year. The scythe slid through the pale blossoms blown from the wisteria. „Mrs. Christopher could accompany you south, sir,” he suggested.
„No, she bloody well can’t,” Christopher snapped. „I told her it’s too dangerous. Captain Argenton and I have to get through the lines, Sharpe, and we won’t make things easier for ourselves by taking a woman with us.” The true reason, of course, was that he did not want Kate to meet her mother and tell her of the marriage in Vila Real de Zedes’s small church. „So Kate will stay here,” Christopher went on, „and you will treat her with respect.” Sharpe said nothing, just looked at the Colonel, who had the grace to shift uncomfortably. „Of course you will,” Christopher said. „I’ll have a word with the village priest on our way out and make sure his people deliver food for you. Bread, beans and a bullock should do your fellows for a week, eh? And for God’s sake don’t make yourselves obvious; I don’t want the French sacking this house. There’s some damn fine pipes of port in the cellars and I don’t want your rogues helping themselves.”
„They won’t, sir,” Sharpe said.