Sharpe nodded. Around him a group of half-pay officers, sick, lame or half-blind, listened curiously. They were all seeking appointments and hoping Sharpe would be disappointed. The clerk blew dust off the papers in his hand.

'It's irregular. He peered at Sharpe's dark green jacket. 'You said the South Essex Regiment?

'Yes.

'But that, if I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am, is the uniform of the 95th? The clerk gave a small, self-satisfied laugh, as if in celebration of a small victory. Sharpe said nothing. He wore the uniform of the Rifles because he was proud of his old Regiment, because the job with the South Essex was only ever intended as a temporary attachment, and how was he to tell this pinched bureaucrat about leading his small band of Riflemen from the horrors of the Corunna retreat down to join the army in Portugal where they had been arbitrarilyjoined to the redcoats of the South Essex. The clerk twitched his nose and sniffed. 'Irregular, Mr. Sharpe, very irregular. He selected the top piece of paper with ink-stained fingers. 'This is the document.

He held Sharpe's gazette as if the document might re-infect him with smallpox. 'You were given a Captaincy in 1809?

'By Lord Wellington.

The name cut no ice in Whitehall. 'Who should have known better. Dear me, Mr. Sharpe, he should have known better! It's irregular.

'But not unknown, surely? Sharpe had suppressed his urge to vent his irritation on the clerk. 'I thought it was your job to approve these documents.

'Or disapprove them! The clerk laughed again and the half-pay officers grinned. 'Approve, Mr. Sharpe, or disapprove! Rain fell down the chimney and hissed on the meager coal fire. The clerk, his thin shoulders heaving with silent laughter, tugged a pair of spectacles from the recesses of his clothing and clipped them on to his nose as if the gazette, seen through smeared glass, might reveal new cause for merriment. 'We disapprove them, sir, most of the time. You allow one and you allow all. It upsets the system, you know. There are rules, regulations, standing orders! And the clerk shook his head because it was obvious Sharpe understood nothing of the army.