Sharpes Havoc   ::   Корнуэлл Бернард

„You’re done, sir,” Hagman said, wrapping his scissors in a piece of calfskin, „and you’ll be feeling the cold wind now, sir, like a newly shorn sheep.”

„You should get your own hair cut, Dan,” Sharpe said.

„Weakens a man, sir, weakens him something dreadful.” Hagman frowned up the hill as two round shots bounced on the crest of the road, one of them taking off the leg of a Portuguese gunner. Sharpe’s men watched expressionless as the round shot bounded on, spraying blood like a Catherine wheel, to finally bang and stop against a garden wall across the road. Hagman chuckled. „Fancy calling a girl Discretion! It ain’t a natural name, sir. Ain’t kind to call a girl Discretion.”

It’s in a book, Dan,” Sharpe said, „so it isn’t supposed to be natural.” He climbed to the porch and shoved hard on the front door, but found it locked. So where the hell was Colonel Christopher? More Portuguese retreated down the slope and these men were so frightened that they did not pause when they saw the British troops, but just kept running. The Portuguese cannon was being attached to its limber and spent musket balls were tearing at the cedars and rattling against the tiles, shutters and stones of the House Beautiful. Sharpe hammered on the locked door, but there was no answer.

„Sir?” Sergeant Patrick Harper called a warning to him. „Sir?” Harper jerked his head toward the side of the house and Sharpe backed away from the door to see Lieutenant Colonel Christopher riding from the stable yard. The Colonel, who was armed with a saber and a brace of pistols, was cleaning his teeth with a wooden pick, something he did frequently, evidently because he was proud of his even white smile. He was accompanied by his Portuguese servant who, mounted on his master’s spare horse, was carrying an enormous valise that was so stuffed with lace, silk and satins that the bag could not be closed.

Colonel Christopher curbed his horse, took the toothpick from his mouth, and stared in astonishment at Sharpe. „What on earth are you doing here, Lieutenant?”

„Ordered to stay with you, sir,” Sharpe answered. He glanced again at the valise. Had Christopher been looting the House Beautiful?

The Colonel saw where Sharpe was looking and snarled at his servant, „Close it, damn you, close it.” Christopher, even though his servant spoke good English, used his own fluent Portuguese, then looked back to Sharpe. „Captain Hogan ordered you to stay with me. Is that what you’re trying to convey?”

„Yes, sir.