'You will arrange for the coach outside to be harnessed. He looked at the two girls. 'Ladies. What is about to happen here is not for your ears or eyes. You will oblige me by going to your carriage with Lieutenant Price.

Price, delighted with the orders, bowed to the girls, while one of the two Lieutenants, the young man who had laughed at his own jest and who looked hardly more than seventeen, frowned. 'I say, sir. .

'Quiet! It was a voice that sent orders across the chaos of battlefields and the snap of it made the girls squeal and stunned the three officers into shocked silence. Sharpe looked again at the girls. 'Ladies? You will please leave.

They fled, snatching scarves and reticules, abandoning music sheets, uneaten cakes, cups of tea, and a bowl of chocolate confections. Sharpe closed the door behind them.

He turned. He took the rifle from his shoulder and slammed it onto a varnished, delicate table. The sound made the three officers shiver. Sharpe looked at the Captain beside the spinet. 'Who are you?

'Carline, sir.

'Who's officer of the day?

Carline swallowed nervously. 'I am, sir.

Sharpe looked at the Lieutenant who had told him to go away. 'You?

The Lieutenant forced his voice to sound unafraid. 'Merrill, sir.

'And you?

'Pierce, sir.

'What Battalion are you? He looked back to Carline.

Carline, scarcely older than the two Lieutenants, tried to match the dignity of his higher rank with an unruffled face, but his voice came out as a frightened squeak. 'South Essex, sir. He cleared his throat. 'First Battalion.

'Who's the senior officer in the depot?

'I am, sir, Carline said. He could not, Sharpe thought, have been more than twenty-two or three.

'Where's Lieutenant Colonel Girdwood?

There was silence. A fly battered uselessly against a window. Sharpe repeated the question.