Chapter 15 Summary

Sharpe enters the palace and encounters a group of men. The Count of Mouromorto recognizes Sharpe. A French officer tells Sharpe to follow and Sharpe assumes he is being taken to meet Colonel de l'Eclin, but Sharpe meets a different French colonel. Before Sharpe can present the demand for surrender, the French colonel says that the British and Spanish forces have one hour to leave the city. Sharpe is shocked.

The colonel says that a French army is due to arrive from the north. The colonel also mocks the idea of taking the city and performing a miracle with the banner. Sharpe says that he intends to post his best riflemen on towers surrounding the palace and have them kill the French one by one.

The colonel suggests a truce. He proposes that the French will stay inside the palace and the Spanish...