Chapters 24 through 30 and Epilogue Summary

The French call for a four-hour truce to gather the wounded and dead. Sharpe believes there are about 500 French dead. After the truce the French bring up their artillery as Sharpe plans his next moves. The French concentrate their artillery on the convent, intending to reduce and capture it and use it as a base to assault the castle. Sharpe has foreseen this probability and after the convent takes some fire the defending British forces abandon it and rush to the castle. Sharpe learns that Harper, at the convent, has not arrived at the castle. While most of the men are saddened Sharpe appears unaffected. Meanwhile, Hakeswill plans his own escape from the castle dungeon. In Chapter 25, Sharpe continues to make preparations for the French attack on the castle, and in the dungeon Hakeswill begins agitating the...