Sharpe's Honour

Sharpe's Honour is the sixteenth

Peninsula War in 1813, Sharpe is framed for murder. He must find a way to clear his name to preserve the fragile alliance between Britain and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars

.

Plot summary

Major

Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne in exchange for the Spanish signing a peace treaty and breaking their alliance with Britain. He offers the Spanish priest and Inquisitor Father Hacha and his brother, the brutal Partisan

leader "El Matarife" ("The Slaughterman"), a huge sum of money for their assistance.

He then has his agent, the extraordinarily beautiful Marquesa de Casares el Grande y Melida Sabada (born Helene Leroux), to write a letter to her husband claiming Sharpe tried to rape her. Guided by Father Hacha, the Marques, a Spanish nobleman of very high rank, challenges Sharpe to a duel. Sharpe accepts, mistakenly thinking it is due to his having slept with Helene (as have many others). Just after Sharpe disarms his opponent, Sharpe's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel

Michael Hogan

, arranges for another condemned man to impersonate Sharpe and be hanged in his place (in exchange for a younger brother's life), sending Sharpe to search for Helene to find out what is going on.

Meanwhile, Ducos betrays Helene. Instead of releasing her six wagons of valuables, he has Father Hacha and El Matarife kidnap her and take her to a nunnery; a stipulation of her late husband's will states that, if she becomes a nun, her entire enormous inheritance will go to the Church via Hacha. Sharpe tracks her down and frees her. However, he is captured by General Verigny, a French cavalry officer and Helene's latest lover, who has also come to her rescue. Sharpe refuses to give his parole to not try to escape. Ducos brutally interrogates him. Sharpe escapes, but is quickly recaptured by Verigny. Helene reveals Ducos' plot, then proposes Sharpe give his parole, whereupon she and Verigny will allow him to escape. Sharpe delays giving his answer, then escapes when a carelessly discarded cigar blows up a pile of ammunition, causing extensive damage and many deaths in Burgos.

At the

Harper

and many others, soldiers and civilians alike, loot the abandoned gold and valuables, while Sharpe searches for Helene. They spot El Matarife, who has captured Helene in the chaos of the French retreat. Sharpe goads El Matarife into a duel. After defeating him, Sharpe forces him to confess to the Marques' murder before killing him. Sharpe and Harper then beat Hacha until he agrees to clear Sharpe's name. Helene charms Wellington into allowing her to leave for France with her wagons.

Television adaptation

The novel was adapted as the last episode of the second season of the

Napoleon (played by Ron Cook

).

Publication history

Sharpe's Honour was the sixth book in the Sharpe series written by Cornwell by order of year of publication. After the addition of many more novels to the successful series it resides about two thirds of the way through the series and Sharpe's military career.

Sharpe's Honour

Plot summary

Television adaptation

Publication history

References

External links