Colonel Maxwell looked over his assembled officers. "We are on the eve of history," he said quietly. "You all know that this siege has been ongoing for many months and we are all weary of it. You know that we have mastered Jonny Russ in every battle we have fought, while he has proved tenacious, stubborn and ingenious in defending Sebastopol."
The officers gave a collective nod.
Major Snodgrass raised his voice. "We should have gone in last September; only the cowardly French stopped us." He swayed as he spoke; he had started on his daily alcohol intake. Jack looked at him with distaste, wondering if he realised how lucky he was that Charlotte Riley was such a poor shot. Charlotte Riley had hated Snodgrass ever since he had got her husband flogged on the ship from Malta to the Crimea; pe
