"No!" Lord John, as white faced as any of the fashionable women at the ball, backed uncertainly towards his friends who hurried towards the confrontation.

Sharpe was just a few paces from his enemy. "Where's my money? You can keep the wh.o.r.e, but where's the money?"

"No!" That was Jane, screaming from the supper room's entrance.

"Stop, I say! Stop!" One of the cavalrymen, a fall captain in Life Guard's uniform, hurried to Lord John's side.

Sharpe, though he was still far out of sword's reach, suddenly lunged and Lord John, in utter fear, stepped hurriedly backwards and tripped on his spurs. He flailed for balance, s.n.a.t.c.hed at the closest tablecloth and dragged a cascade of smashing china and c.h.i.n.king silver to the floor as he fell. There was a second's silence after the last shard of china had settled.

"You s.h.i.t-faced, yellow-bellied b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Sharpe said to the sprawling Lord John.

"Enough!" Lord John's leading rescuer, the Life Guards Captain, drew his own sword and stood above his lordship.

"You want to be filleted?" Sharpe did not care. He kept walking forward, ready to hack down all the high-born, long-nosed b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

The Captain held his sword blade upright, almost at the salute, to show that he was neither menacing Sharpe nor trying to defend against him. "My name is Manvell. Christopher Manvell. You and I have no quarrel, Colonel Sharpe."

"I've got a quarrel with that piece of yellow s.h.i.t at your feet."

"Not here!" Captain Manvell warned. "Not in public!" Duelling had been forbidden to serving officers, which meant that any duel would have to be fought in secret. Two other cavalry officers stood behind the Captain.

Lord John slowly climbed to his feet. "I tripped," he explained to his friend.

"Indeed." Manvell kept his eyes fixed on Sharpe, half fearing that the Rifleman might still attack.

"You can keep the wh.o.r.e," Sharpe said again to Lord John, but this time loud enough for Jane and the other spectators to hear, "but I want my money."

Lord John licked his lips. He knew that Sharpe's insults were more than mere anger, but a deliberate provocation to a duel. No man could hear his woman described as a wh.o.r.e and not fight, yet Lord John was truly terrified of the Rifleman and had no doubt who would win a duel, and so, despite the insults and despite the people who witnessed his humiliation, he nodded his acceptance of Sharpe's demand. "I'll send you a note tomorrow," he said humbly.

Captain Manvell was plainly astonished at Lord John's swift collapse, even disgusted by the cowardice, but had no choice but to accept it. "Does that satisfy you, Colonel Sharpe?"

Sharpe was just as surprised at his sudden victory. He felt oddly cheated, but sheathed his sword anyway. "You can bring the note to me at the Prince of Orange's headquarters."

He had spoken to Lord John, but Manvell chose to answer. "I shall act for his lordship in this matter. You have a second to whom I can present the note?"

"He does!" Peter d'Alembord spoke up from the crowd which listened from the supper room's wide entrance. Lucille, her face paled by fear, held d'Alembord's arm as he walked a few paces into the room and bowed primly to Christopher Manvell. "My name is d'Alembord. I can be found with the Prince of Wales's Own Volunteers who are a part of Sir Colin Halkett's brigade."

Manvell gave the smallest nod to acknowledge d'Alembord's bow. "I shall serve you a promissory note tomorrow, Captain d'Alembord. Is that agreeable?"

"Entirely."

Manvell thrust his own sword home, then took Lord John's elbow and led him away. Jane, watching from the entrance, had a hand over her mouth. Sharpe caught her eye for a second, then turned away as Lucille ran to him.

"I should have killed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Sharpe growled.

"You're a fool." Lucille brushed at the blood on his jacket, then touched his cheek.

D'Alembord, behind Lucille, waited until the spectators had drifted away. "What happened?" he asked Sharpe.

"You heard for yourself, didn't you? The b.a.s.t.a.r.d collapsed."

D'Alembord shook his head. "What happened with Wellington? What was the news?"

Sharpe had to drag his thoughts back to the earlier events of the night. "Napoleon's stolen a march on us. His army's just a day away from here, and ours is still scattered over half Belgium. We've been humbugged, Peter."

D'Alembord smiled very wanly. "Oh, my G.o.d."

"So it's time to see how an emperor fights." Sharpe said grimly, then he put an arm round Lucille's shoulders and steered her towards the ballroom where, because the orchestra had been engaged till dawn, the music still played and a few last couples still danced. The Highland dancers had left, taking their swords for other employment. A few girls, their escorts already gone to join their regiments, wept. The windows had been opened wide and a small breeze fluttered the candles. The remaining dancers, holding each other very close, slowly circled the floor, which was littered with discarded flowers and dance-cards and even a pair of silk gloves. A pearl necklace had broken and two liveried servants scrabbled on hands and knees to retrieve the jewels.

The music was winsome. Like the wind that guttered and blew out the candles, a bloodied man had broken through the dancers' joy to break the glittering ball into dark fragments, yet still some few couples could not bear to relinquish the last moments of peace. A young infantry major danced with his wife of just three weeks. She wept softly, while he held her and believed in the augury that this happiness could not possibly end in death on a battlefield, for such an end would be against all that was good and sweet and lovely in the world. He would live because he was in love. He clung to the thought until, reluctant, and with tears in his eyes, it was time to draw away from his love. She held his hands tight, but he smiled, freed his hands, then reached for the grey ostrich feathers she wore in her hair. The Major plucked one of the grey feathers, kissed his wife's hand, then went to find his regiment.

The Emperor had humbugged them all, and the killing would begin.

CHAPTER 7.

At one in the morning, in the heart of the brief night, Lucille shivered in the courtyard of her Brussels lodging house. Two horses trampled nervously on the cobbles by the yard's arched entrance. The only light came from a lantern which hung in the stable doorway. Her child slept upstairs.

"Take this." Lucille thrust a bundle towards Sharpe. "It belonged to Xavier."

Sharpe shook the bundle loose to reveal that it was a dark blue woollen cloak lined with scarlet silk, a luxury that had belonged to Lucille's husband. "It's beautiful." He felt awkward, not certain that he was worthy of the gift. He folded the cloak over his arm, then touched Lucille's cold cheek. ,I'll see you late tomorrow."

"Maybe." Lucille absently brushed at the dried blood on Sharpe's threadbare jacket. "How can you tell?"

"One day to hold them," he said lightly, "and one day to beat them."

"Maybe," she said again, then, looking up into his eyes, "and what if you lose?"

"Take a ca.n.a.l barge to Antwerp. I'll find you there. If it's really bad, make your way to Ostend and cross to England."

Lucille's despondency was caused by a fear of Sharpe's death, not a British defeat, but she dared not articulate such a thought. She sensed a difference in her man; there was a remoteness in Sharpe this night which, though he tried to hide it, was very obvious to Lucille. She knew he had killed one of her countrymen the previous evening, and she supposed he was now preparing himself for all the others he would fight. She also detected a certain relief in Sharpe. Instead of wrestling with the imponderables of land and trees and drainage and crops, he was back where his skills gave him a harsh certainty. She glanced through the open gateway, her attention caught by the tramp of boots. A Scottish battalion was marching down the street, its pace dictated by the soft beat of a m.u.f.fled drum, "Maybe I should go home," she said almost despairingly, "to Normandy."

Sharpe put his hands on her shoulders. "The quickest way home for both of us is to get rid of Napoleon."

"So you say." She rested her cheek on his jacket. "I love you."

He awkwardly stroked her hair. "I love you."

"I don't know why you do." She pulled away slightly. "I'm not beautiful like Jane."

Sharpe traced a finger down Lucille's long nose. "She has no beauty inside herself."

Lucille scorned that compliment with a grimace, then gave Sharpe a warning look. "Her eyes are full of hate. Be careful."

"There's nothing she can do now, and her man didn't dare face me in a duel."

"Be careful, though," Lucille insisted.