Sharpe's Peril Page #6

I'll rejoin you as I may.

Richard, what are you doing?

She came back for me, Pat.

She came back for me.

Argh!

I cannot reach the ball, sir.

It is too deeply lodged.

Can he be moved? If you wish him to

bleed afresh with every step.

Indeed, Mr Harper...I can.

Robert!

I will.

If Lance-Naik Singh

will lend me his shoulder.

I can travel.

(SINGS NONSENSE)

With consideration, Mr Harper,

I've come to the opinion

the general is mad, sir.

Have you ever met one that wasn't?

Come on, Mr Beauclere,

pick up the pace!

That's the way, sir!

Damn forlorn hope, I calls it.

Staunch griping, Quilter,

I will not hear it.

There is always hope. While Colonel

Sharpe was with us, sir.

Not now.

It's a bitter blow, I grant you.

But all is not lost.

We must trust to Mr Harper

and support him in all things.

He's no rank, sir.

No.

No, he has not.

Yet he will, I think, get us through.

Pray God you're right, sir.

Pray God you're right.

Uh-uh-uh.

SPEAKING FRENCH:

TWIG CRACKS:

Stand by, you bastard!

Stand back.

Ah, the English colonel, huh?

Soldat!

Colonel Sharpe, is it not?

No doubt, Count Dragomirov will

reward me

for bringing such a useful prisoner.

Soldat! A moi!

Your men are dead, Joubert.

Just you and me now.

No.

Only me.

It's all right, lass.

From now on you're safe.

I've given him as decent a burying

as I can.

Leastways,

better than any he had a right to.

You're bleeding.

It's nowt.

Let me see.

If I do not staunch your bleeding,

how far do you imagine we will get?

See? It's nowt.

Nonetheless, it must be

cleaned and dressed.

Your shirt?

What?

If you please.

Bloody hell.

From my wife's mum.

The one you spoke of?

Teresa?

Teresa, aye.

You had a daughter, you said?

Aye.

There.

Antonia.

That's her likeness.

Pretty girl.

Aye.

Happen she took after her mother.

And where is she now?

With Teresa's family.

Somewhere.

I can't hope to look for her.

Not in the army.

Army is no place to raise a child.

The light is failing.

We'll make no more ground today.

Wormwood, pitch camp.

Pitch camp!

Deever,

you take first picket,

two hours on, two hours off.

You have been all my happiness.

And a joy...

far beyond my deserving.

Hsst now.

Hsst.

You'll start my eyes watering with

all your flattering.

Stout heart, my girl.

Stout heart.

You've not ate owt, ma'am.

I'm not hungry.

You should eat all the same.

Keep your strength up.

Things will look brighter,

come morning.

I will forget I killed my fiance,

do you mean?

Here now, here, come on.

It were either him or me.

And I'm glad it weren't me.

If it's any comfort, he got no more

or less than he's deserving.

But have you killed many men?

Did they deserve it?

Some.

But most were just poor soldiers

who happened to wear a different

uniform from me.

But in a just cause?

I'm not sure I ever heard of one.

War is the business of kings, miss.

Kings and governments.

And however they dress it,

in the end,

the whys and the wherefores come down

to one thing.

Loot, booty, treasure.

Us soldiers...

..we just do the dying for 'em.

So nobody saw him go?

Well, I saw a fellow head off,

that took him on some post-culinary

business.

Mr Beauclere,

you will take the company on.

Mr Harper.

You will forgive me, sir, but the

column needs you here.

Major Tredinnick is my officer.

I will find him.

WHINNYING:

HORSES APPROACHING

You may kill me, Count,

but if by God's good grace,

Colonel Sharpe still lives,

..upon his steel shall you answer for

your offences.

Sharpe is dead.

All your hope is in vain.

However, tell me where the rest of

your party can be found.

I may yet spare your life.

Betrayal is your creed.

Not mine.

You're a brave man.

You see, ma'am?

I told you all would look better

by morning.

We've come up on the track.

A few hours riding should see us back

to the column.

Major, sahib!

Major, sahib...

Singh...

You must tell...

Mr Harper, tell him...

..Colonel Sharpe is dead.

I heard the news off Dragomirov.

Look to my wife.

See her...

safe through.

Safe through...

No harm will touch her

while I breathe.

I swear.

Those were the major's words.

I'm sorry to bear no better tidings,

sir.

No.

Speak me no speeches,

Lance-Naik Singh.

By and by, I will hear

all that there is to be heard,

but just...just grant me a few

private moments,

just to gather myself.

I beg you.

Philippe was garrisoned for a short

while upon the Ile-de-France.

My father liked to gamble

and when he could not cover his

debts...

Won you at cards?

An unusual way to find a husband, I

grant, but...

I wasn't going to do any better.

A shrewish reputation does not

encourage

eligible suitors to a woman's door.

Headstrong maybe.

But shrewish? Nah.

I would not call you that.

You called me worse.

Spoiled, petulant, selfish...

Ah.

And yet you came after me.

I made a promise with Viscount

Sedgefield.

Do you always keep your...

Colonel Sharpe. Mademoiselle Bonnet.

Unless I'm mistaken,

with Major Joubert's horse.

No foolish heroism, please.

Lay down your arms and you'll be

treated fairly.

Our field headquarters.

A finer billet than any other

Company barracks, is it not?

Take her to her quarters.

I will stay with Colonel Sharpe.

You will do as you are bid.

There are some matters which lie

between the colonel and myself we

must resolve.

The ladies of the palace

will see you have all you require.

Richard...

It's all right, ma'am,

you'll be safe enough.

A fine piece.

But I think a little headstrong,

is she not?

She knows her own mind.

A habit,

in my experience, as unwelcome in a

woman as it is in a horse.

Will you take a dish of tea, Mr

Harper?

When low on spirits, my Robert,

he always took a dish to be

restorative.

I will, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am.

We've made some good progress this

morning.

Have we not?

We've done as well as we may, ma'am.

But enough...

would you think?

To put us beyond the reach of...

of that man?

I hope so, ma'am.

I really hope so.

So, here you see my manufactory.

This is where the raw juice of the

poppy is prepared.

Dried

and shaped into these cakes.

The work does not take great skill.

But it requires some attention

on the part of the worker.

Purity is all.

A moment's inattention and the whole

batch may be ruined past saving.

This fellow here for example.

His daydreaming has already cost me

dearly.

Do you know how much opium China

imports, Colonel Sharpe?

Some 20,000 to 30,000 chests a year.

A year!

I have from this season alone

already 1,100 chests.

And the raw material

for some 800 or 900 more.

35 a chest.

70,000.

With so much at stake,

do you truly suppose that I intend

to allow your friends to make

Calcutta?

Yet, I will strike a bargain with

you.

Save me the inconvenience of hunting

them down

and I will spare them.

They will be my guests here

until what business I have in India

is concluded.

Thereafter,

they will be set free.

You have my word.

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