"Sauvez la France!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur." "Vive l'Empereur!" "Glaivet." "What's he done now?" "Nothing." "Perhaps nothing." "What?" "All the servants have gone." "Glaivet's gone." "Silly old bugger." "Should know better." "He was in Napoleon's Old Guard." "And some of the young men, too." "I knew he was going to flap." "I know those mustachios." "I've seen 'em, shot 'em." "Coming at me, bayonets twirling." "Teeth bared like mad horses, making faces." "At me!" "Loyal to you, though." "Or I'd have given him the boot long since." "He's more loyal to his emperor." "He's not his emperor." "We stopped that, sent him packing." "We'll stop him now, as well." "Don't know when he's beat, Boney." "We'll put him down deep this time." "You swore you would never march again." "I know." " Well?" " I did." "I shall not fight." "Please!" "Yes." "I've had a bellyful of fighting." "Too much." "But..." "I've never before... not in all those years in Spain, come up against Napoleon." "His very self." "None of us did." "Not even Wellington." "And what should I do if I left Wellington to fight without me?" "Eh?" "I could never look him in the eye again." "Not that I ever did." "I must go." "Lucille." "This last time." "For fear it might end without me." "It's my work." "It's what I do." "I'm good at it." "Was" "I shall come." "I cannot lose you." "What, you?" "To spy for Boney?" "Perhaps." "No." "Don't." "They'll hang you." "And I couldn't have that." "I couldn't bear to lose you." "Lucille, it is you now for ever." "I am suited in love and life, I do declare it." " Oh, but I..." " No, no." "Aye." "I'll come back." "I shall." "I'll not be killed." "They've tried." "Get on!" "Old Wellington they scratched his bum" "They says, Boney lad, thee's had thee fun" "My riflemen will win the day" "Over the hills and far away" "O'er the hills and o'er the main" "Through Flanders." "Portugal and Spain" "King George commands and we obey" "Over the hills and far away..." "My Lord." "Lady Frances..." "Good afternoon, my lord." "Howzat!" "Good ball." "John." " Very handy." " Good ball." "John." " Thank you." " Well done, John!" "What is he doing?" "She's a commoner." "Hm!" "The hat says it all." "He hooks splendid." "Guard." "Your Royal Highness?" "It is not a game we Dutch play." "Which is why I gave you young men for your staff, all good cricketers." "You've Tom Doggett the other end." "I gave you him and I gave you Sharpe." "Where is Sharpe?" "Duty?" "Sharpe bowls fiendish." "You must lean, all of you." "You and the Belgians." "Do you good, serve you well." "We are determined we shall, sir." "You must warn them they've been picked for our team now." "They'll not fight for Bonaparte again, sir." "Howzat!" "Your Royal Highness..." "The Prince of Orange..." "They wanted to give him command over me." "Better counsel prevailed." "You were beat only by a whisker, Your Royal Highness." "But surely." "Baron." "Like you." "The Prince played cricket at Eton?" "His Highness has played everything, but leant... very little... anywhere." "Though I've done my best." "Eton and Oxford flowed over him, without so much as ruffle his hair." "Berlin... quite entertained him." "Excuse me, Your Grace." "Good show." "Good show." "Well bowled, young Rossendale." "And Frances in her condition." " And what is her condition." "Aunt?" " What?" "Her condition?" "No business of yours, Johnny." "And you are beyond the pale." "I shall not receive your... your..." "You can count on it, you may not present her." "Go away, young woman!" "Oh." "I say." "Isn't that Sharpe's wife?" "She's quite charming, you know." "I know" "Might we not have invitations to the ball?" "It's the event of Brussels." "She is another man's wife." "Come to that, so's Lady Frances, who wanders off so happily into the trees with our esteemed commander." "Yes, however her husband is not here to see it." "I'm sure you're very brave, but aren't you just a little apprehensive?" " Of what?" " Of her husband." "Ah." "Would be were he here." "But he ain't." "I looked at the list." "Did you think of glancing at the Prince of Orange's list?" "Silly Billy's list don't apply to Sharpe." "Half-pay captain." "Your half-pay captain got his lift to colonel by making up the numbers on Orange's staff." "Colonel?" "!" "Oh, God." "It's not just his wife, do you see?" "Other considerations." "Such as I took quite a lot of his money as well as her." "Which will encourage him to seek me out, I don't doubt at all." "Servant, Aunt." "Good Lord!" "Jane!" "You." "Take this invitation to Lord Rossendale." "Hm!" "Argh!" "Arrêtez!" " Squadron, halt!" " Captain." "Send a good man and give this to Wellington." "I do believe Boney has humbugged him." "I shall go back, see more." "Come on!" "Prepare to attack!" "Charge!" "What will you do?" "If we..." " You are not received..." " Not the damn ball." "What will you do when you meet Richard?" "Run?" "Do you wish me dead?" "No." "I wish my husband dead." "You have not faced battle before." " What do you know of it?" " A great deal." "Richard rarely talked of it, but I have thought the field of battle to be very... noisy very confusing." "And very deadly." "The thought occurs that... one is in as much danger from one's own side as from the enemy." "And nobody ever really knows what might be happening." "For the black fog of the powder... and the intensity and speed of the onslaught... often..." "Oh, you are a witch." "You do bewitch." "Yes, you are." "Find him." "Shoot him." "Cut him down from behind." "Kill him on that gory field where one body more or less matters little." "With gun, sword..." "With the hooves of your great charger which you ride so... magnificently." "I ache... to be it." "Do it." "The French may do it for you." "Us." "Richard's given them every chance for years." "They can't be relied on." "If you haven't the stomach, there are those who'll do it for pay here in Brussels." "I still have some... some..." "I shall do it myself." "Your invitation to the ball." "My Lord." "If Sharpe is to be killed..." "Yes." "He is to be killed, John." "Yes." "I shall find opportunity in battle." "Find him and do it." "Thank you." "Then I'll be free to become..." "Lady Rossendale." "Ah." "Ah, what?" "Mother..." "You see..." "Yes." "Bugger your mother." "I wouldn't tell you a word of a lie now, Mr Doggett, sir, but I have never ever seen a horse of better action." "And very few of finer frame." "Shall we say er... five guineas earnest money and bind the bargain?" "Four." " Constant de Rebecque." " Colonel Sharpe." "Boney sends men up the road to Brussels." "They cross the river at Charleroi... and Quatre Bras is here." "Lots of men." "I went back to make sure." "Horse, guns, foot." "Is it a feint?" "While they attack by Mons." "Wellington swears they will, cut him off from the sea." "Quatre Bras." "That's where." "It's a crossroads." "This is the road to Brussels." "This is the road the Prussians must use to get to us, we to them." "If Boney gets across it, we're both stopped from helping each other." "I'm led believe we can't beat Boney without the Prussians." "Can we?" "No." "It could still be a feint." "No." "Too many committed." "I sent back report, posthaste Wellington." "Lots of bayonets and guns coming up." "The way the Frogs do it when they mean it." "Where does Orange bounce?" "With the whore." "He found himself an English one." "Ha!" "Daniel!" "Thought you said you were getting too old for this." "Harris, still recite bloody poetry and stuff?" "His boots." "Oh!" "Is this wisdom?" "Today I tussled at the popping crease." "Tonight I gallop at the Duchess of Richmond's ball." "And soon..." "Soon." "I must wade into the blood of battle." "Mmm!" "Get out, whore." "And keep me my strength... for my seat and my sword." "I'll get you listed as sergeants in some double Dutchery." "I'm a bloody light dragoon or summat!" "Never seen head nor tail of them." "Flapped, I suspect." "Gone back to Boney." "Oh, bloody hell." "Bloody hell, Patrick!" "Not you!" "It is." "It is." "Damn me, you came." " You came!" " I did." "I did come, I did." "Sit down." "Sit down, Pat." "Have some wine." "Daniel, make room for Sergeant Major Harper." "Mr Harper." "Mr Patrick Harper." "Horse trader to the gentry, gentlemen." "Ooh!" "What, you've not enlisted?" "I have not." "The King has had more than his shilling's worth from me, so he has." "That's right, Pat." "Bloody great!" "Cheers." "What do you want?" "Well, paying would be a nice thing." "Don't ask me for money." "How much do you get paid?" "Me?" "One pound, three shillings and ten pence a day." "What are you, a general?" "Lieutenant Colonel." "Strewth, live well on that, you could." " Well, I could." " I do." "More money than I've ever been paid in my life." "Sad, innit?" "And now you'll most likely get killed." " Not me." " Yeah, you will." "No, I won't." "Yeah, you will." "And all that money gone to waste." "Shilling?" "I haven't got time." "I've got to go off and get killed." "You want some butter, cheese?" "You got a wife?" "I know you've got a woman in Brussels." "How do you know that?" "Everybody knows." "Do they?" "They should mind their own bloody business." " I've got a wife." " What does she think of your woman?" "She's got another man in England." " That all right, then?" " No, it's not all right!" "They stole my money." "The pair of 'em." "You'd kill him, wouldn't you?" "Yep." "Muskets, line troops." "It's volley fire." "They've bumped you." "I heard it." "Musket fire." "I shall tell Wellington at once." "Be as well somebody did." "Why aren't you in Dutch uniform, Sharpe?" "At the tailor's, sir." "You're on my... staff, Sharpe." "I" " I-I'm proud of you." "Everybody's most impressed that I catched you, so you can't possibly go to a ball dressed like that." "It ain't the dress of any regiment in the Netherlands order of battle." "And... that's the sword of a butcher." "Right, now, who are these two scoundrels?" "Two of my sergeants." "Sir." "If you let them draw rations and pay." "Yes, yes." "If you want them." "Rebecque... put 'em on strength." "Doggett." "He's not going?" "The Duchess of Richmond's ball." "It hasn't been abandoned." "You were invited, were you not?" "Are you going?" "No." "But every other officer of note is, and I don't blame them." "For most of them it'll be their last." "Get some clean linen, Sharpe." "Take loan of some epaulettes, at least, and lead out your affianced." "Show her off, Madame de Seleglise." "His Royal Highness wants to show you off." "A real swashing soldier." "And you're his." "Be off to the ball, sir." "Bugger balls!" "If he won't do his job, I will." "Harris, Daniel." "Let's stop them, the French." "They're still not sure what they face." "Patrick..." "Will you put Lucille on a barge to Antwerp?" "And from there to England, should we lose this fight." "I will." "You can count on it." "God bless you came." "God bless you." "Pat." "Running like a young 'un, Daniel." "Aye, it's the tug of it." "They tug, we jerk." "Make sure you jerk like a battalion of young 'uns, both of you." "Déployoez-vous" "Nom de Dieu, les Anglais!" " Close to centre." " Give it to the buggers!" "This way!" "Company to me!" "Over here!" "Come on, you buggers." "Come on!" "Come on!" "Dan!" "Argh." "Hold your fire." "Hold your fire." "Just skirmishers." "No guns or cavalry yet, but they're coming." "There!" "Will they fight, your boys?" "Last time I saw such uniforms you were on t'other side." "Fire!" "No" "Fire!" " Good." " Good." "Fire!" " Sharpe." " Sir." " Are you hurt?" " Not my blood, sir." " Very well, what?" " He should be in Dutch uniform." "Sir, Quatre Bras is where he's bent for" " Boney." "I left the 27th Dutch Regiment holding the road from Charleroi." "They should keep it tonight." " But not tomorrow with the Frogs." " Napoleon where?" "Not seen, sir." "Then it's a feint." "Napoleon goes to Mons?" "He does not, sir." "Surely you were told?" "I sent a report by one of our patrols." " I was not." "Is it dereliction?" " Not on my part, sir." "The Dutchman I cannot answer for." "So," "BIücher's Prussians faced attack s today." "Nothing serious, he thought." "I hope." "And tomorrow we march to his aid." "Here is the road we take." "And here is Quatre Bras." "I cannot get to the Prussians in time, except we hold Quatre Bras." "If we fight to hold it, I will not get to him in time, nor he to me." "Will your Dutch regiment stand?" "They were when I left them, sir." "Forming up most formidable and credible." "Humbugged, by God." "We need another day to face him down." "Humbugged." "Damn well humbuggered!" "So." "Quatre Bras tomorrow to hold Boney." "Give us more time." "I will then try to fight him here." "Waterloo." "In hope the Prussians will get to us." "Humbuggery." "So, your officers to their regiments, I think, Your Royal Highness." "Off you go." " You ought to have dressed, Sharpe." " Sir?" "Try to keep Silly Billy out of mischief." "That way... you could well fright the ladies." "Humbugged." "I say." "You, madam!" "You!" " Don't hurt me, please!" " And you!" "You dare to come, you dare to join, to be in the same bottle-beggaring army as me." "Get up and fight!" "Somebody give him a sword." "You have a friend?" "No, no please." "Then give me my money." "You may keep the whore for an arse-wipe, you yellow-livered..." "No, by God." "I'll kill you anyway." "Steady." "Enough." "Get up." "By God, I'll fillet you also." "You will not!" "Harry Paget, Richard." "Earl Uxbridge, as is." "Lord Wellington's second-in-command, as is." "Don't do it." " You tell him, Harry." " I fell." "Just fell." "Tell him he can have the whore." "But I want my money." "I" " I shall send it tomorrow." "A note, a promissory note for the sum." "I fell, Your Grace." "Sir." "That do him?" "That'll do him." "The money." "Tomorrow." "Come along, lads." "Move along there." "Get all your equipment together." "What do we do now?" "Fight Boney, Harry." "Very same tomorrow." "He's humbugged the Duke, stole a march on him." "Yes." "Oh, dear." "Up for it again." "Ain't hardly dressed for it, though." "Humbugged him an' all." "Thninks cos he's in love he can't be got." "Mr Sharpe." "Mr Price, sir!" "Patrick, she gone?" "She won't leave without seeing you." "Why did you not go?" "No," "I couldn't." "I want you to have this." "It was Xaviers." "It's beautiful." "I've watched them marching out." "Look" "English, Dutch Belgian." "Thousands of them." "They haven't stopped." "Look." "It's not enough." "We need the Prussians as well." "Not enough and most of them raw." "There's one regiment, not one man over 20." "Children." "I've known some children fight like mad dogs." "Lucille..." "I saw Jane tonight." "She's not beautiful." "Not her." "She has no beauty within herself." "She's shoddy cloth beside you." "But you loved her once." "I say to you..." "No fancy, no vain wish, you are my life." "And I love you, Lucille." "I love you, Richard." "You will go if we lose." "I'll go home." "Aye." "Until Sunday, then." "Late." "How do you know?" "One day to hold him, one day to beat him." "Oh, Boney..." "I must confess," "I want to see him and I want to see him run." "Quick march." "Patrick." "Oh, I'm not going near any fighting, ma'am." "Being an Irishman, I've too much sense for that." "I'll keep out of trouble, so I will." "Go with God." "Good." "Now we can get on with it." "Come on now." "Left." "Right." "Left." "Right..." "Good day to you." "We're fighting Boney, you know." "Indeed we are." "This day at the crossroads of Quatre Bras he's been seen." "Has he been?" "We're holding the woods, I do believe." "Yes." "Where are your men?" "Fighting." "Fighting." "I stand corrected, Highness." "I know very little about uniforms other than my own." "I could have sworn these was yours as is running." "Ain't they?" "Some of them, Lord Uxbridge." "Some of them." "Come back here, you cowards!" "I never mind men running as long as they come back." "My lads, you look blown from your run." "Come, do take breath a moment." "Then we'll go back and try and do better." "Take heart, soon have some guns up." " Uxbridge?" " Wellington?" " When?" " Oh, they do come, I assure you." "What of the Prussians?" "Any word at all?" "I told the Prussians we would support them, but only if not attacked here." "They will have to fight without us today." "Listen." "Come on, boy!" "Whoa." "There, the Prussians have started before us." "Do you hear those guns, Sharpe?" "Far off..." "That's the Prussians pasting up the French." "Do you hear?" "Listen." "It's the French!" "My God!" "Now they have guns." "They've always had guns, Your Royal Highness." "What they haven't always had is you as a target." "If your corps is coming up, as you say, Uxbridge, how close do you think they are?" "I want them clear that road, I want to range handsome with guns." " Very close." " How close?" "Close." "Coming up." "Prussians." "Prussians." "Miles away." "For Good's sake!" "Fire!" "Your Royal Highness, I shall need your cavalry." "You shall have them, sir." "I will lead them." "Doggett, at my side." "Have you ever ridden a cavalry charge, sir?" "Just stay on your horse, Tom, and try not to chop its bloody ears off." "Now they're really going to give it to us." "Advance!" "Charge!" "Now, you see, that's not it at all." "Not at all!" "Now, we'll try again, shall we?" "Advance!" "Charge!" "No!" "The disgrace of it." "Mon Dieu!" "Well, look." "Look, sir!" "That's why they wouldn't go." "There." "Thousands of lancers." "And behind them their infantry... in squares." "A job for our guns." "That's why." "You should have come." "Sharpe." "We were riding to glory." "Doggett and I." "And I tell you what, Sharpe, I tell you..." "I was not afraid." "I am without fear." "Without it." "Aye." "More's the damn pity." "No." "No Come back, you cowards" "Sharpe." " Look, it's Colonel Sharpe!" " Good to see you, Sergeant Harper." "Still alive, Gubbins?" "Oh, Mr Sharpe!" "Sir!" "Here you go, Craddock." "Thank you, Mr Sharpe." "Have some Panie, Charlie." " Thank you, Sergeant!" " Good to see you, Sergeant." " Good to see you." "Sir." " Keep her going, Patsy." "Are you going to be fighting with us, Sir?" "Good to have you back." "Colonel." "Not back here." "It's my command here." "My battalion." "Paid for it." "Paid enough for it, by God!" "Mine." "Prince of Wales' Own, halt!" "Hot work, Harry." "My damned ears have gone too, now, what." "Got your money note from that chap in the Lobsters?" " No." " Going to call him out." "Are you?" "God, I hate duels." "Can't drink." "Won't come to that." "I'll just find the bugger and spay him." "That should do the trick." "Do leave him enough gristle to piss through." "Cavalry?" "Oh, there's two brigades of the murderous sweepings." "Lancers and all sorts of bastard varieties, hid down there." "And not enough guns with which to tidy them." "So, mind I told you so, sir." "Prince of Wales' Own, form square!" "Form square." "Form square." "Hold those horses." " Company, right flank!" " Come on!" "Come on." "Sharpe." " Are they mine?" " Prince of Wales, sir, of the 5th Brigade." "Yes, Yes... you see, I thought they were mine." "Why, can you tell me why, Sharpe, why have they formed square, to be shot at, Sharpe?" "They will pound us, sir, or poke us with their lancers." "Then they will pound us some more." "Hoping to make us run or break square." "To get us into line." "When they will have us like so." "Now because we have no cavalry to take on their cavalry, you having sent them home, and not enough guns up yet to break their marauding..." "I see no cavalry." "They're there!" "Which is why the battalions have formed square." "They are not there to form tempting targets for French gunners, Sharpe." "Doggett!" "Orders." "Time." "Sharpe, this to the commander of the 5th, and make it brusque." "Tell him form line and give fire." "Not skulk in squares being shot ragged, hiding from illusory... illusory cavalry." "But they're there!" "In the dead ground on the right." "Exactly!" "And this brigade is on the left, is it not?" "Sharpe... you came to me on the highest recommend..." "Just take it." "Take it!" "No." "No?" "No!" "That order will kill them all." "I shall not take it." "Doggett!" "You can't." "Rebecque..." "Colonel Sharpe is sent off the field in ignominy." "Very well." "Might I return to fight with my own battalion?" "Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers, form line." "What an idiot!" "What a dirty little Dutch buffle-brained bastard." "I'll ram his poxed crown up his royal poxed arse!" "The blue-blooded twat!" "Dear, oh dear, oh dear!" "Come to see us fight, Sharpe?" " Might I suggest you form square?" " Is that order from Brigade?" "It's a suggestion." "Don't follow suggestion, Sharpe." "Follow orders." "Our guns, at last." "And French cavalry." "Cavalry." "Where are they going?" "Surely the Prince of Orange has had his men form square?" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God." "Enemy cavalry, sir." "Are they French?" "My God, they are" "Er..." " Tell them to form square." " It's too late." "How can it be too late?" "They must form square." "You form square to receive cavalry." "Always!" "Form square!" " Run for the trees!" " Form square." "Run for the trees!" "Run, you idle..." " Form square!" " Run!" " Run!" " Run!" "Form square, damn it!" "Run for cover." "Run for the trees." "Take cover in the trees." "Lads." "Prince of Wales' Own to the trees!" "Caught in bloody line!" "Oh, God..." "My brother's just joined, you see." "I shall not look." "Lord save him." "I do not see it." "Get the wagons hitched up and loaded." "Lads." "Moving off in tern minutes." "All right." "Lads." "You." "Roberts." "Smithers." "Over here on the double." "I never saw him." "Did you?" "They're all saying they saw him, but I never did." "Did you see Boney yesterday at Quatre Bras?" "No?" "No more did I." "He was out there... beating the Prussians." "He beat them." "Sent them packing up north, so he did." "So they're not cut off from us after all." "I heard that straight from the horse's mouth." "A galloper... of the Roast and Boiled," "who'd heard it first-hand from a walloping Mick of the 6th Skins, who saw them Prussians with his own eyes, so he did." "So, indeed to God, they might come and help us after all." "Well... help you." "For I'm a soldier no more." "Rather a... quiet... quiet gentleman, so I am." "What did you promise Lucille?" "I promised her I wouldn't march again." "And here I am." "All to see Boney." "He wasn't there." "But he will be tomorrow." "No, I didn't see him." "None did." "Though they may lie to you..." "Mr Harper." "That's right." "They lie." "They all lie." "And will I tell you why they lie?" "Simply, those that have seen him is dead." "You see him and you die." "Cos he's surrounded by the buggers, with their tin frock s and their spears and..." "and their..." "Jesus!" "And their guns." "Of which, I might add, there are many." "You could, of course... go home to your lady." "And your land." "Till the good earth... reap its bounty." "I can't." "Not yet." "If you don't go now, you may never go." "Shall you go back to see Ramona and miss the battle?" "Not glimpse Boney?" "Eat." "It's French." "It's good." "Though I am a bit of a cannibal, so I am." "Bagged a brace of them myself." "Came back for a souvenir." "Well done, sir." "Once you get past the lance point, it's like killing rabbits." "Ah." "Damn rockets." "Damn things fright the horses." "Steady." "Whoa!" "I thought we'd stopped using them damn infernal things." "Whoa!" "If you don't come, you won't be seen." "Go on!" "Has the whore spent my money?" "Not..." "Not all of it." "Your note for what's left." "Now!" "Yes." "Of course." "You're not worth fighting." "You want her?" "I'll sell her to you." "What we do where I come from is take our faithless wives to market." "Bit of rope round their neck s, and bid for 'em." "You prinked bastards do that?" "My lord?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" "I know." "Here's the rope." "Thank you." "No, no." "Your servant." "She's yours." "Just hope it's worth the paper." "If it isn't..." "I'll be back, so I shall." "I hate those damn things." "Now to apologise to that little Dutch idiot I shat on yesterday." "I need the money, so help me." "Hey... did we thrape them at Quatre Bras or what?" "We did." "We won." " We bloody did!" " The Prussians didn't." "The Prussians..." "So we came back to keep them company." "Here." "Waterloo." "What's that noise?" "Snoring." "Frogs snoring." "Harris..." "Yes, Dan?" "What is your first name?" "And neither will I married be" "Until the day that I die" "For the billows roar" "And the foreign war" "Parted my hove and I" "What do you do tomorrow?" "What do you eat." "Uxbridge?" "Much the same." "Does the army want for anything?" "Damn it!" "What do you do tomorrow?" " What plans have you?" " Plans?" "I'm second-in-command." "I ought to know." "As soon as Bonaparte tells me what he's going to do," "I shall know what I'm going to do." "And I'll tell you." "But as Boney has not yet confided in me." "I cannot confide in you." "So to your beef, Uxbridge." "Adulterous rogue." "Accept your apology, Sharpe," "I do." "But it's..." "It's very diff... difficult to know when to order square and... and... and... and line." "It can be a very fine judgment, and the best of us is often hoodwinked." "My philosophy is:" "When in doubt, form line." "For, when in square, you can't easily form a column to..." "Run, sir?" "Damn me!" "Dutch uniform, Sharpe?" "In for repair, sir." "Drying out as having soaked lace." "Colours have run." "The yellow's gone red." "Well, wear it tomorrow." "Wet or no." "Now." "I have decided that you will tomorrow be here." "The farm of La Haie Sainte." "Why is it important." "Sharpe?" "It's at the centre, sir." "Close to Quatre Bras, centre of Wellington's position..." "No, Sharpe!" "Pivotal." "On my flank and pivotal." "If we lose this position we're in a very bad way indeed." "If we hook like we are going to hose it you will extricate yourself with great daring in Dutch uniform." "So that all can see." "And tell me at once." "You're hurrying, sir." "I am, Tom." "I could not stay there another minute without I hit him." "Mind you, he's right about La Haie Sainte." "You've a good commission." "What do you do with Silly Billy on his staff?" "I'm a serious officer, sir, and I would lean all I can." "All I can." "Well, you won't lean from him." "He's nowt but a silk stocking full of shit." "Not chalked my name on the door, I see." "Could you not bring yourself to do it?" "What would it say?" "Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe, arse-wiper to the Prince of Orange." "Arse-wiper to the Prince of Orange." "No, no, no, no." "Wouldn't say that." "Cos then I might be guilty of rank cheek or written impudence." "I'd write..." "Do you still want to see Boney?" "More than ever." "Might ask him for a job." "Lost my pistol." "Broke my sword." "But got three of them, by God." "What sort of lancers?" "Pretty, sky-blue ones." "The trick is to get past the lance point, then it's a bit like killing rabbits..." "I tried it, sir." "You were quite right." "Lord Uxbridge kindly tutored me in doing it." "I wish Wellington would tell me how he's to do it." "Their guns?" "There were no bloody lancers today." "He broke my sword, Witherspoon." "Sharpe..." "I won't tell." "Thank you." "He got his note for the money." "Much good will it do him, I've no money." "Jane won't give me any more till I marry her." "He gave her to me." "He said he'd sell her." "Some ghastly country custom." "The swines sell their wives, Withers." "I love her to distraction, you know." "More than honour." "But to keep her I must kill him." "He's a far better man than I, so..." "So tomorrow I lose her and my honour." "It is to do with honour, isn't it, old chap?" "Not duels." "There is one way you can win all, you know." "Is there?" "How?" "Fight like a blue hero tomorrow." " Tea up, lads." " Tea up!" "Rouse yourselves." "It'll soon warm you up." " Daniel." " Speak, sir." "When will he start it" " Boney?" "Early." "He'll want to get us beat before the Prussians come." " Are they coming?" " Are they coming!" "Sharpe." "It's that Orange bloke." " Good morning, sir." " Good to see you up early." "Now, do you see the elm tree up there?" "That's where the Duke will be." "Do you see the farm?" "That's where you will be." "We line the ridge." "Sharpe." "Men and guns." "And that... that's where the Prussians will come." "Now, I..." "Are they coming, sir?" "Oh, yes." "They certainly are." " Are we certain, sir?" " Yes." "Y" " Y-Yes." " Now, I shall be..." " Good." "Sharpe, would you stop looking at that damn map!" "No Sharpe , ...do you not wish to know where I shall be?" "Sharpe, I'm trying to tell you." "Where shall you be, sir?" "I shall be everywhere." "Everywhere." "He bloody will as well." "Might I wish you joy of the day, Sharpe?" "You might." "And I you, sir." "I have the utmost regard and sympathy for you, sir." "Rebecque, follow me!" "Should he survive, he will one day be King of the Netherlands, and my sovereign." "He's not such a bad fellow at heart." "He's very proud he has... you, Colonel." "Is he, by God?" "You're a good shot, Daniel." "Make me a happy man." "Strictly between you and me, of course." "Build up those barricades, lads." "We don't have much time." "They'll be prancing up here before we know it." "Move!" "Your lives depend upon it." "Is that where the Prussians are coming from?" "If they come." "Until they do, it's going to be bloody murder." "So... you still say you're going to keep out of trouble, so you will." "His Emperor Boney will come at us like a battering ram." "He has more guns and he'll pound us." "Then he'll come straight for us." "And here... at this nook-shotten farm is where he'll get stopped." "Or not." "He has enough men, and they'll rap and rend us bloody." "And they haven't even started putting holes in the cowin' wall yet to shoot at him." "Nine o'clock, gentlemen." "Baggage to the rear." "Baggage to the rear!" "Baggage to the rear!" "Get those holes dug." "We need tools..." "It'd be a lot easier if we had 'em..." "Where are they?" " Where are the pioneers?" " Taken from them for another job." "Are there no tools to make loopholes?" "They lost all their mules yesterday, with all the trenching tools." "Poor mules will have been eaten, most likely." "We'll have to barricade the roads and entrances." "What happened to the gates?" "These gates were burned by an English regiment for firewood." "To keep themselves warm and dry their clothes." "The main gates have been put back, burnt or not." "Vive IEmpereur." "Hark at 'em." "The bloody Frogs." "Sharpe." "Sharpe!" "What a day it'll be!" "Vive IEmpereur." "Over all the years I've been fighting the French," "I have become sick and bloody tired of that shite music that they play." "I have, so I have!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "They're playing it to bring the Belgians back to their side." "Or to make them run." "Compliments of the guns, Your Grace." "They have Boney in range." "He's about to pass into their sights." "Should they give fire on him?" "Witherspoon, it is not the business of army commanders to fire upon each other." "Save your ammunition." "Wait!" "You will yet wear out your guns." "First gun, Somerset." "It's started." "Second gun." "I give you today's fox, gentlemen." "Today's fox." "Feu!" "Steady!" "Have the men lie down." "Lie down!" "Forward!" "Oh, God." "My Good" "Oh, God." "Oh, my God." "Help me!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Argh!" "This day in Belgium on the 18th of June is a big battle." "On this day I am sure the signs are that I am damnably with child." "Argh!" "Load up." "Courage." "Had." "Courage." "Now the buggers'll come." "Move that man inside." "Too hate." "The bugger's dead." " Sharpe, good morning." " Witherspoon." "This is my friend Mr Harper from Ireland." "Ah, trying to sell you something." "A whole troop of chaps tried to sell things to the Duke." "What time?" " What?" " What time did it stop?" "The cannonade." "I have it as ten minutes of midday, but the Duke likes it accurate." "What time is it now?" "Oh, erm..." " Four minutes after midday." " Best write down that they're coming." " Coming?" " The French, they're advancing." "Ah." "So they are." "Thank you, my dear fellow, I might have missed that." "Shall you stay here and fight, then, with us?" "Sharpe, dear fellow, it's immensely kind, but I'm on the Duke's family, you see." "He never lets us have any of the fun." "I do wish you joy of the day." "Stay with the horses, Pat." "Dispersez-vous!" "Let's go!" " How many, Sergeant?" " About 2,000, sir." "Shouldn't be too many." " They're most of them hid." " Give them two volleys, then run." "First rank, present!" "Fire!" "Third rank." "Fire!" "Into the farmhouse!" "Come on!" "Shit!" "Close the gates!" "They're on the roof." "Come on." "Lads." "Get stuck into 'em." "Christ." "Mr Sharpe, sir." "The gates!" "There's a fire in the barn." "Bring water here." "Bring water quickly." "Good lad!" "Move back!" "Present!" "Fire!" "Pat!" "Go kill the bastards!" "Finish them off!" "A cette niche, Frog!" "I don't know who you are... but thank you." "Sharpe." "Silly Billy's staff." "A- ha." "MacDuff." "Late of the Guards." "Second-in-command to Major Baring." "2nd King's German Legion." "Will you forgive me?" "Come on, lads, kill the bastards." "Finish them off." "It's all right, you little bugger." "We've stopped eating French drummer boys." "For they smell." "Gather the wounded into the barn." "Righto." "Lads." "They'll counterattack." "Cavalry." "A lot of it." "Now, that won't do." "They've lost La Haie Sainte." "No, sir, it's still garrisoned, still fighting." "No, no." "We must take it back." "You." "Forward!" "Form line!" "They're forming line." "Who sent them?" "By God." "It's Silly bloody Billy again." "Form square." "Argh!" "Again!" "In line against cavalry." "They're being slaughtered." "Make for the farm." "Every man for himself." "Make for the farm." "My God, sir, that was a close-run thing." "Chose the gates." "Why didn't they form a square?" "They should form square against cavalry." "Again." "I saw it." "That damn fool faddle-fart did it again - advanced in line against cavalry." "I do drawings for him." "They should have formed square, Rebecque." "Will you never..." "Will the little prick never lean?" "Come on, Patrick, we're going." " Open the gates." " Where are you going?" "As far away from you and your Royal bloody Prince of Orange pips as I can." "You are to stay here." "Right here!" "You don't need me here." "They're real soldiers here." "They don't need me to tell them how to do it." "Open the gates!" "Brisk!" "Arrest him." "Arrest him at once!" "Open the gates." "Rebecque, arrest him." "How dare he, the insubordinate swine?" "I'll have you hanged for desertion!" "I'll have you shot." "Will somebody not shoot me this scum down?" "...Your Royal High twat." "Sharpe." "Sharpe." "Come back here." "Ooh, look at this." "Now you can say you've seen Boney." "Yeah." " And that twat, an' all!" " Speak, sir?" "Yeah." "We're going back." "Sharpe." "Come back here." "Fire!" "Rise up!" "Rise up!" "Rise up!" "Aargh!" "Ready with your heavies?" " I am, Your Grace." " Then have them out." "Light Guards will prepare to advance." "Advance!" "Fire!" "Keep moving, lads." "There goes your colonel's pay." "Bugger it." "Worth it, though, being able to tell that little Dutch shithead where to go." " I suppose." " And bugger him." "There go the cavalry." "What horses they have!" "Finest horses in all of Europe, so they are." "Aargh!" "I can kill." "I can kill!" "My God, I will do it!" "I can kill, Sharpe." "I can kill as well as you, Sharpe!" "Jane." "Come on." "Lads." "Keep firing." "Reload!" "Argh!" "Fire!" "Keep firing." "Bring up more shot." "Company..." "Ready!" "Fire!" "Fire." "Where are they going?" "Look at 'em." "Running away again?" "Did Silly Billy want you to fight?" "There was nowt to keep us there, Patrick." "Was there not?" "So, what'll you do?" "So where are the Prussians?" "Fighting their own battle, most like." "Where will you go?" "I'll fetch Lucille." "Go back to England." "Even if we..." "Even if they win, it'll be a good few months, years before we can go home... back to the farm." "It is home now, Patrick." "France." "Normandy." "Oh, yeah." "God save Ireland, you know what that is?" "It's their cavalry." "It's their cuirassiers, it's their chasseurs." "It's their damned blasted lancers." "Ah, bugger it!" "You know... it's a pity we never got to see Boney and..." "And..." "Yeah." "Shall we go back?" "I think we will." "We left many friends there." "Come on." "Hold them!" "That's where they'll come." "There." "Now hold firm." "They can't get into the square if we hold firm." " They'll come again." " Wait for the order to fire." "You did well, lads." "Now, wait ," "My lads." "What now?" "Fix swords and make faces at the buggers." "Argh!" "Form up." "Form up!" "Open the gates and charge them with bayonets." "Ah!" "Ride, sir." "Ride!" "Get off!" "Dan!" "Argh!" "You did it again!" "Colonel Sharpe said you would do it again and you did!" "All those men dead because you wanted to get out." "You coward!" "Doggett!" "His Royal Highness... cannot be called a coward." "No, damn it!" "No not cowardice ," "Not that." "Just so you may dance and prance and make high cockalorum while men die... horribly." "It is too much." "I declare." "Too much." "I shall say it." "You, sir... are a silk stocking full of shit!" "Vive I'Empereur!" "Now we might finish it." "Time, Witherspoon?" "The Old Guard." "He's putting in his Imperial Guard." " Almost seven, sir." " What news of the Prussians?" "None, sir." "He did it again." "How many more men will he kill?" "That's my commission gone to the blazes, I dare say." "But it had to be said." "Daniel Hagman..." "Harris." "He won't kill any more!" "Now you have caused trouble" "Where are you, you lily-livered Dutch bastard?" "Rebecque." "Go on." "They were soldiers" " Hagman and Harris." "They knew they would die." "They were mine." "I chose them." "They fought with me." "Now." "I'll only get one shot." "Now, Patrick, this is a hanging matter when I plug him dead." "So you keep out of it." " Oh, I..." " You just keep out of it!" "Aim for his belly." "God bless you." "MacDuff." "Did I kill him?" "You didn't kill his horse cos it's run off, so it has." "Vive l'Empereur." "Vive l'Empereur." "Christ." "Boney's done it." "He's had to send in the Old Guard." "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Fire!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Argh!" "Take up the Colours." "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "South Essex!" "Sergeant Major Harper, you shoot the first man who takes a step backwards." "And that includes officers." "What?" "Oh, yes." "Very good, sir." "Shot they will be, sir." "Now, rise up, the South Essex." "On your feet!" "Now, Maitland." "Now's your time." "Stand up, Guards, and at 'em!" "The Prince of W..." "Damn it." "The South Essex will advance!" "Right shoulders forward... march!" "We're going to fight, lads." "You see me?" "I'm your Colour." "Me." "Up!" "Up!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive l'Empereur!" "Make ready" "Present!" "Fire!" "Present!" "Fire!" "Present!" "Fire!" "Aidez-moi." "Sharpe!" "Your Grace." "What are you waiting for?" "Forward and complete your victory." "Don't let them stand." "See them off our land." "Your battalion, Mr Sharpe." "I'm beholden to you." "To you all." "Now go on go on!" "They won't stand" "South Essex!" "Prepare to Advance." "March!" "Your Grace, the Prussians are here." "Let's see if we can find something useful for them to do." "Go on, Sharpe!" "You've beaten the Old Guard, lad." "They won't stand." "Look" "By God, I saw him." "I saw him!" "That's all I came for, so it is." "Goodbye, Colonel Sharpe." "Goodbye, Mr Harper." "What are you waiting for, lads?" "See the Frogs off!" "Over The Hills And Far Away"