Dear Mr. Cornwell. In a November 8th posting, Paul Varbedian complained about how you didn’t end Sharpe’s career at a higher rank. I feel that if you had done so, it would have seriously limited the adventures he could have had. As a senior officer, he would be sending his juniors out on desperate missions, rather than going out on them himself. Even at Waterloo, as a lieutenant-colonel, he was more of a spectator and less of a participant than in his previous adventures. His just sitting back and letting others take the risks would have been boring both to him and to us, your readers. So for my money, you did it right. Alan Kempner