Is Sir Edward Pellew of the Royal Navy the father of Richard Sharpe?

The riddle goes, “Take you out, put me in, and a horse appears in this happy person.” Here’s my reasoning. I start with all the letters: SIREDWARDPELLEW. The riddle is told by you to us, so “”you” is “reader” and “me” is “author”. “Take you out” involves removing “reader” from the letters, leaving us with SIWDPLLEW. “Put me in” involves placing “author” among these letters, giving us AUTHORSIWDPLLEW. From among these letters, “HORSE” can be spelled.

The novels seem to indicate that Sharpe was born in London sometime around 1777. A young Pellew was in London in early 1776, before embarking for naval service in America that spring. Perhaps he had a dalliance with a prostitute just before leaving, unknowingly leading to the birth of our hero nine months later?

If this is so, it would be fitting from a literary point of view, as Pellew was a mentor to Horatio Hornblower. In a certain sense, then, he would be a father to two great fictional heroes of the Napoleonic Wars.

Jeff