JК
Sharpes Escape :: Корнуэлл Бернард
Страница: 109 из 283"
"Good God! The boy is entrusted to my care! Now I have to write to his father and say the lad's life was tossed away by an irresponsible officer who committed his company to an attack without any authorization from me!" Lawford paused, evidently too angry to frame his next words, then slapped his hand against his sword scabbard. "I command this battalion, Sharpe!" he said. "Perhaps you have never realized that? Do you think you can swan around as you like, killing men as you see fit, without reference to me?"
"I had orders, sir," Sharpe said woodenly.
"Orders?" Lawford demanded. "I gave no order!"
"I was ordered by Colonel Rogers-Jones, sir."
"Who the devil is Colonel Rogers-Jones?"
"I believe he commands a battalion of cazadores," Forrest put in quietly.
"God damn it, Sharpe," Lawford snapped, "Colonel Rogers bloody Jones does not command the South Essex!"
"I had orders from a colonel, sir," Sharpe insisted, "and I obeyed." He paused. "And I recalled your advice, sir."
"My advice?" Lawford asked.
"Last night, sir, you told me you wanted your skirmishers to be audacious and aggressive. So we were."
"I also want my officers to be gentlemen," Lawford said, "to show courtesy."
Sharpe sensed that they had reached the real point of this meeting. Lawford, it was true, had a genuine grievance that Sharpe had committed the light company to an attack without his permission, but no officer could truly object to a man fighting the enemy. The complaint had been merely a ranging shot for the assault that was about to come. Sharpe said nothing, but just stared fixedly at a spot between the Colonel's eyes.
"Lieutenant Slingsby," the Colonel said, "tells me that you insulted him. That you invited him to a duel. That you called him illegitimate. That you swore at him."
Sharpe cast his mind back to the brief confrontation on the ridge's forward slope just after he had pulled the company out of the French panic. "I doubt I called him illegitimate, sir," he said. "I wouldn't use that sort of word. I probably called him a bastard."
Knowles stared westwards. Forrest looked down at the grass to hide a smile. Lawford looked astonished. "You called him what?"
"A bastard, sir."
"That is entirely unacceptable between fellow officers," Lawford said.
Sharpe said nothing. It was usually the best thing to do.
"Have you nothing to say?" Lawford demanded.
"I have never done a thing," Sharpe was goaded into speaking "except for the good of this battalion."
That vehement statement rather took Lawford aback. He blinked. "No one is decrying your service, Sharpe," he said stiffly.
"Good God! The boy is entrusted to my care! Now I have to write to his father and say the lad's life was tossed away by an irresponsible officer who committed his company to an attack without any authorization from me!" Lawford paused, evidently too angry to frame his next words, then slapped his hand against his sword scabbard. "I command this battalion, Sharpe!" he said. "Perhaps you have never realized that? Do you think you can swan around as you like, killing men as you see fit, without reference to me?"
"I had orders, sir," Sharpe said woodenly.
"Orders?" Lawford demanded. "I gave no order!"
"I was ordered by Colonel Rogers-Jones, sir."
"Who the devil is Colonel Rogers-Jones?"
"I believe he commands a battalion of cazadores," Forrest put in quietly.
"God damn it, Sharpe," Lawford snapped, "Colonel Rogers bloody Jones does not command the South Essex!"
"I had orders from a colonel, sir," Sharpe insisted, "and I obeyed." He paused. "And I recalled your advice, sir."
"My advice?" Lawford asked.
"Last night, sir, you told me you wanted your skirmishers to be audacious and aggressive. So we were."
"I also want my officers to be gentlemen," Lawford said, "to show courtesy."
Sharpe sensed that they had reached the real point of this meeting. Lawford, it was true, had a genuine grievance that Sharpe had committed the light company to an attack without his permission, but no officer could truly object to a man fighting the enemy. The complaint had been merely a ranging shot for the assault that was about to come. Sharpe said nothing, but just stared fixedly at a spot between the Colonel's eyes.
"Lieutenant Slingsby," the Colonel said, "tells me that you insulted him. That you invited him to a duel. That you called him illegitimate. That you swore at him."
Sharpe cast his mind back to the brief confrontation on the ridge's forward slope just after he had pulled the company out of the French panic. "I doubt I called him illegitimate, sir," he said. "I wouldn't use that sort of word. I probably called him a bastard."
Knowles stared westwards. Forrest looked down at the grass to hide a smile. Lawford looked astonished. "You called him what?"
"A bastard, sir."
"That is entirely unacceptable between fellow officers," Lawford said.
Sharpe said nothing. It was usually the best thing to do.
"Have you nothing to say?" Lawford demanded.
"I have never done a thing," Sharpe was goaded into speaking "except for the good of this battalion."
That vehement statement rather took Lawford aback. He blinked. "No one is decrying your service, Sharpe," he said stiffly.