Richard Sharpe was preparing a marvelously heartening speech. He was preparing to applaud her on her wits and courage -- praise her for sussing out the bastard's feigned ignorance and explain to her how impressed he was that it was a tactic she knew well. Common soldiers, after all, often lived or died by their ability to stand stone-faced in front of their officers and pretend as though they were dumb as posts. He was going to slyly comment upon it as though it was a strategical strength they shared, and perhaps a compliment would lead to to a smile. And a smile would lead to a kiss, and...
Sodomy. The word brought him up short. His posture -- it had relaxed but incrementally since he'd sat -- grew mechanical once again. If anything, Sharpe seemed surprised and embarrassed. It was a topic he blushed over even when Hogan would joke about Lord Pumps and his favoured men; it was an even stranger subject to encounter with the woman he was courting.
But even more surprising was..."David?"
Sharpe could barely believe it. But then, he supposed, it wasn't all that difficult to believe that a man would keep his own affairs private. Sharpe might have been easily flummoxed by the notion, but he was not naive.
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Sodomy. The word brought him up short. His posture -- it had relaxed but incrementally since he'd sat -- grew mechanical once again. If anything, Sharpe seemed surprised and embarrassed. It was a topic he blushed over even when Hogan would joke about Lord Pumps and his favoured men; it was an even stranger subject to encounter with the woman he was courting.
But even more surprising was..."David?"
Sharpe could barely believe it. But then, he supposed, it wasn't all that difficult to believe that a man would keep his own affairs private. Sharpe might have been easily flummoxed by the notion, but he was not naive.