JК
Sharpes Havoc :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 75 из 242I know he looks uncouth, but he’s an English officerand that means he’s almost a gentleman. And you’ve got plenty of servants to chaperone you.” He frowned. „Does having Sharpe here worry you?”
„No,” Kate said, „I’ll just stay out of his way.”
„I’ve no doubt he’ll be glad of that. Lady Grace might have tamed him a little, but he’s plainly uncomfortable around civilized folk. I’m sure you’ll be quite safe till I return. I can leave you a pistol if you’re worried?”
„No,” Kate said, for she knew there was a pistol in her father’s old gun room and, anyway, she did not think she would need it to deter Sharpe. „How long will you be away?” she asked.
„A week? At most ten days. One cannot be precise about such things, but be assured, my dearest, that I shall hurry back to you with the utmost dispatch.”
She gave him the letter for her mother. The letter, written by candlelight just before dawn, told Mrs. Savage that her daughter loved her, that she was sorry she had deceived her, but nevertheless she was married to a wonderful man, a man Mrs. Savage would surely come to love as though he were her own son, and Kate promised she would be back at her mother’s side just as soon as she possibly could. In the meantime she commended herself, her husband and her mother to God’s tender care.
Colonel James Christopher read his wife’s letter as he rode toward Oporto. Then he read Sharpe’s letter.
„Something important?” Captain Argenton asked him.
„Trivialities, my dear Captain, mere trivialities,” Christopher said and read Sharpe’s letter a second time. „Good God,” he said, „but they allow utter illiterates to carry the King’s commission these days,” and with those words he tore both letters into tiny shreds that he let fly upon the cold, rain-laden wind so that, for a moment, the white scraps looked like snow behind his horse. „I assume,” he asked Argenton, „that we shall need a permit to cross the river?”
„I shall get one from headquarters,” Argenton said.
„Good,” Christopher said, „good,” because in his saddlebag, unknown to Captain Argenton, was a third letter, one that Christopher had written himself in polished, perfect French, and it was addressed, care of Marshal Soult’s headquarters, to Brigadier Henri Vuillard, the man who was most feared by Argenton and his fellow plotters. Christopher smiled, remembered the joys of the night and anticipated the greater joys to come. He was a happy man.
CHAPTER 4
"Spider webs,” Hagman whispered, „and moss. That’ll do it, sir.
„No,” Kate said, „I’ll just stay out of his way.”
„I’ve no doubt he’ll be glad of that. Lady Grace might have tamed him a little, but he’s plainly uncomfortable around civilized folk. I’m sure you’ll be quite safe till I return. I can leave you a pistol if you’re worried?”
„No,” Kate said, for she knew there was a pistol in her father’s old gun room and, anyway, she did not think she would need it to deter Sharpe. „How long will you be away?” she asked.
„A week? At most ten days. One cannot be precise about such things, but be assured, my dearest, that I shall hurry back to you with the utmost dispatch.”
She gave him the letter for her mother. The letter, written by candlelight just before dawn, told Mrs. Savage that her daughter loved her, that she was sorry she had deceived her, but nevertheless she was married to a wonderful man, a man Mrs. Savage would surely come to love as though he were her own son, and Kate promised she would be back at her mother’s side just as soon as she possibly could. In the meantime she commended herself, her husband and her mother to God’s tender care.
Colonel James Christopher read his wife’s letter as he rode toward Oporto. Then he read Sharpe’s letter.
„Something important?” Captain Argenton asked him.
„Trivialities, my dear Captain, mere trivialities,” Christopher said and read Sharpe’s letter a second time. „Good God,” he said, „but they allow utter illiterates to carry the King’s commission these days,” and with those words he tore both letters into tiny shreds that he let fly upon the cold, rain-laden wind so that, for a moment, the white scraps looked like snow behind his horse. „I assume,” he asked Argenton, „that we shall need a permit to cross the river?”
„I shall get one from headquarters,” Argenton said.
„Good,” Christopher said, „good,” because in his saddlebag, unknown to Captain Argenton, was a third letter, one that Christopher had written himself in polished, perfect French, and it was addressed, care of Marshal Soult’s headquarters, to Brigadier Henri Vuillard, the man who was most feared by Argenton and his fellow plotters. Christopher smiled, remembered the joys of the night and anticipated the greater joys to come. He was a happy man.
CHAPTER 4
"Spider webs,” Hagman whispered, „and moss. That’ll do it, sir.