I don't know, bloody rumour again, but there's a whisper that they might try a winter attack on Braganza then on to Oporto. I don't believe it for a second, but there's a school of thought which maintains that Napoleon is in need of some victory, any victory, after the Russian catastrophe. If they capture the north of Portugal then they can trumpet that as some kind of achievement. Nairn shrugged. 'I can't think why, but we're told to take the possibility seriously and certainly there's a lot of Frog cavalry lumbering about in Galicia and our belief is that they drove our friend Pot-au-Feu towards us. And he promptly sends his British deserters to attack a village called Adrados where they murder a small Spanish garrison and go on to make themselves free with all the ladies. Now half of bloody Spain thinks that the Protestant English are reverting to the Wars of Religion. That, Sharpe, is the story in its rancid little nutshell.

'So we go up there and turn the bastards inside out?

Nairn smiled. 'Not yet, Sharpe, not yet. We have a problem. He got to his feet, crossed to the table, rummaged through the mess of papers and litter, and returned with a small, black leather-bound book. He tossed the book to Sharpe. 'Did you see a tall, thin man when you arrived here? Silver hair? Elegant?

Sharpe nodded. He had noticed the man because of the flawless uniform, the look of bored distinction, and the obvious wealth of the man's spurs, sword and other ornaments. 'I did.

'That's him. Nairn pointed at the book.

Sharpe opened it. It was new, the covers stiff, and on the title page he read 'Practical Instructions to the Young Officer in the Art of Warfare with Special Reference to the Engagements now Proceeding in Spain'. The author was named as Colonel Sir Augustus Farthingdale. The book cost five shillings, published by Richard Phillips, and was printed by Joyce Gold of Shoe Lane in London. The pages were mostly uncut, but Sharpe's eye was caught by a sentence that ran over a page and so he took out his pen-knife and slit the next two pages apart. He finished the sentence and smiled. Nairn saw the smile. 'Read it to me.