"Cornwell, Bernard - Grail Quest 3 - Heretic" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cornwell Bernard)

houses, with paddocks for horses, and between them were men
at-arms and archers. The oriflamme might as well have stayed
unfurled.
We can take the tower, sire." Sir Geoffrey de Charny, as hard
a soldier as any in Philip's army, gestured down the hill to where
the English garrison of Nifulay was isolated on the French side of
the river.
To what end?" Philip asked. He was a weak man, hesitant in
battle, but his question was pertinent. If the tower did fall and the
bridge of Nifulay was thus delivered into his hands, what would
it serve? The bridge merely led to an even greater English army,
which was already arraying itself on the firm ground at the edge
of its encampment.
The citizens of Calais, starved and despairing, had seen the
French banners on the southern crest and they had responded by
hanging their own flags from their ramparts. They displayed images
of the Virgin, pictures of Saint Denis of France and, high on the
citadel, the blue and yellow royal standard to tell Philip that his
subjects still lived, still fought. Yet the brave display could not hide
that they had been besieged for eleven months. They needed help.
Take the tower, sire/ Sir Geoffrey urged, and then attack across
the bridge! Good Christ, if the Goddamns see us win one victory
they might lose heart!" A growl of agreement came from the assembled lords.
The King was less optimistic. It was true that Calais's garrison
still held out, and that the English had hardly damaged its walls,
let alone found a way to cross the twin moats, but nor had the
French been able to carry any supplies to the beleaguered town.
The people there did not need encouragement, they needed food.
A puff of smoke showed beyond the encampment and a few heart
beats later the sound of a cannon rolled across the marshes. The
missile must have struck the wall, but Philip was too far away to
see its effect.
A victory here will encourage the garrison," the Lord of
Montmorency urged, and put despair in the English hearts."
But why should the English lose heart if the tower of Nifulay
fell? Philip thought it would merely fill them with a resolve to
defend the road on the far side of the bridge, but he also under
stood that he could not keep his rough hounds leashed when a
hated enemy was in sight and so he gave his permission. Take
the tower/ he instructed, and God give you victory."
The King stayed where he was as the lords gathered men and
armed themselves. The wind from the sea brought the smell of
salt, but also a scent of decay which probably came from rotting
weed on the long tidal flats. It made Philip melancholy. His new
astrologer had refused to attend the King for weeks, pleading that
he had a fever, but Philip had learned that the man was in fine
health, which meant that he must have seen some great disaster
in the stars and simply feared to tell the King. Gulls cried beneath
the clouds. Far out to sea a grubby sail bellied towards England,
while another ship was anchoring off the English-held beaches