Sharpe's Ransom p. 79-89 Summary

While Sharpe's Christmas goose roasts in the oven, Lucille cooks bacon and eggs for Challon and his two hussars. Challon harasses Lucille about being with an Englishman instead of a Frenchman, and when he slides his hand to her breast, she drips steaming fat on his hand and positions herself to throw the whole pan filled with sizzling food in his face. After Lorcet reprimands Challon, Lucille demands an apology while holding the pan over Challon's groin, so he apologizes grudgingly. When Lorcet questions why Lucille is with the Englishman, she says he arrived one day and stayed and Lorcet argues that she allowed Sharpe to stay but "an Englishman has no business in France" (p. 80). As Lucille disputes that Sharpe's business is tending the farm, Lorcet argues that a Frenchman should do that; the French fought...