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Sharpes Escape :: Корнуэлл Бернард
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"Bloody lost, is he?"
"I fear it's time to write him out ofthe books," Lawford said, meaning that he could officially declare Sharpe missing and so create a vacant captainship.
"A bit premature, don't you think?" Hogan suggested vaguely. "Your affair, of course, Lawford, your affair entirely, and no damned business of mine whether you write him out or not." He stooped to the glass again and stared at one of the broken mills that crowned a hilltop across the wide valley. "What was he doing when he went missing?"
"Looking for turpentine, I think. That and escorting an English woman."
"Ah!" Hogan said, still vaguely, then straightened from the glass again. "A woman, eh? That sounds like Mister Sharpe, doesn't it? Good for him. That was in Coimbra, yes?"
"In Coimbra, yes," Lawford confirmed, then added indignantly, "He never turned up!"
"Another fellow disappeared there," Hogan said, standing at the bastion's edge and staring through the rain at the northern hills. "A major, quite important. He does for the Portuguese what I do for the Peer. Be a bad thing if he fell into French hands."
Lawford was no fool and knew that Hogan did not just make vague conversation. "You think they're connected?"
"I know they're connected," Hogan said. "Sharpe and this fellow had what you might call a disagreement."
"Sharpe never told me!" Lawford was piqued.
"Flour? On a hilltop?"
"Ah. He did tell me. No details, though."
"Richard never wastes details on senior officers," Hogan said, then paused to take a pinch of snuff. He sneezed. "He doesn't tell us," he went on, "in case we get confused. But he coped, in a way, and got himself thoroughly beaten up as a result."
"Beaten up?"
"The night before the battle."
"He said he'd tripped."
"Well, he would, wouldn't he?" Hogan was not surprised. "So, yes, the two were connected, but whether they still are is very dubious. Very dubious, but not impossible. I have great faith in Sharpe."
"As do I," Lawford said.
"Indeed you do," Hogan said, who knew more about the South Essex than Lawford would ever have guessed. "So if Sharpe does turn up, Lawford, send him on to the Peer's headquarters, would you? Tell him we need his information about Major Ferreira." Hogan very much doubted that Wellington would want to waste a second on Sharpe, but Hogan did, and it did no harm for Lawford to think that the General shared that wish.
"Of course I will," Lawford promised.
"We're at Pero Negro," Hogan said, "a couple of hours' ride westwards. And of course we'll send him back as soon as we can.
"Bloody lost, is he?"
"I fear it's time to write him out ofthe books," Lawford said, meaning that he could officially declare Sharpe missing and so create a vacant captainship.
"A bit premature, don't you think?" Hogan suggested vaguely. "Your affair, of course, Lawford, your affair entirely, and no damned business of mine whether you write him out or not." He stooped to the glass again and stared at one of the broken mills that crowned a hilltop across the wide valley. "What was he doing when he went missing?"
"Looking for turpentine, I think. That and escorting an English woman."
"Ah!" Hogan said, still vaguely, then straightened from the glass again. "A woman, eh? That sounds like Mister Sharpe, doesn't it? Good for him. That was in Coimbra, yes?"
"In Coimbra, yes," Lawford confirmed, then added indignantly, "He never turned up!"
"Another fellow disappeared there," Hogan said, standing at the bastion's edge and staring through the rain at the northern hills. "A major, quite important. He does for the Portuguese what I do for the Peer. Be a bad thing if he fell into French hands."
Lawford was no fool and knew that Hogan did not just make vague conversation. "You think they're connected?"
"I know they're connected," Hogan said. "Sharpe and this fellow had what you might call a disagreement."
"Sharpe never told me!" Lawford was piqued.
"Flour? On a hilltop?"
"Ah. He did tell me. No details, though."
"Richard never wastes details on senior officers," Hogan said, then paused to take a pinch of snuff. He sneezed. "He doesn't tell us," he went on, "in case we get confused. But he coped, in a way, and got himself thoroughly beaten up as a result."
"Beaten up?"
"The night before the battle."
"He said he'd tripped."
"Well, he would, wouldn't he?" Hogan was not surprised. "So, yes, the two were connected, but whether they still are is very dubious. Very dubious, but not impossible. I have great faith in Sharpe."
"As do I," Lawford said.
"Indeed you do," Hogan said, who knew more about the South Essex than Lawford would ever have guessed. "So if Sharpe does turn up, Lawford, send him on to the Peer's headquarters, would you? Tell him we need his information about Major Ferreira." Hogan very much doubted that Wellington would want to waste a second on Sharpe, but Hogan did, and it did no harm for Lawford to think that the General shared that wish.
"Of course I will," Lawford promised.
"We're at Pero Negro," Hogan said, "a couple of hours' ride westwards. And of course we'll send him back as soon as we can.