Captain Torrance is a minor antagonist in the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Fortress. He is a corrupt British officer in 1803.
Biography[]
Torrance had a strict and abusive religious upbringing. He cut something of a dandified figure, always being smart, and tended to walk around naked in private, saying it kept his clothes clean. Posted to India, he took a married couple, Charles and Clare Wall, with him as his servants. When Charles died, Torrance kept Clare as a virtual slave, addressing her as "Brick" and insisting she had to pay off both her and her husband's passage.
Having ended up 10,000 rupees in debt to a rich businessman, Jama, through gambling, Torrance was given an opportunity to pay him off when he was put in charge of the bullock train following the death of Captain Mackay. He secretly began stealing British supplies and giving them to Jama's brother Naig. He had Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill assigned to him and Hakeswill made a willing accomplice, coming up with excuses to explain the supplies' disappearances.
Even though his duties only extended to receiving his orders each day, the lazy Torrance requested a junior officer as his assistant and was assigned Ensign Richard Sharpe. Sharpe quickly found out about the stolen supplies and he and Sergeant Eli Lockhart exposed Naig. Torrance quickly arranged to have Naig hanged for theft before he could incriminate him. He sent Sharpe on ahead to Deogaum to find billet for him, as a result of which no-one arranged to have the supplies transported. Torrance evicted the family whose home Sharpe had chosen.
Called before General Sir Arthur Wellesley to explain his indolence, Torrance followed Hakeswill's suggestion and had his clerk, Dilip, who had been inherited from Mackay, blamed for the thefts and the lack of supplies and quickly hanged. Wellesley told him that the regulations to have thieves hanged on the spot only applied to soldiers, not civilians, and he would face charges if anyone complained. Jama provided Torrance with a new clerk, his nephew Sajit, who was happy to assist with the thefts, but also demanded recompence for Naig's death. Torrance put the blame on Sharpe and had Hakeswill deliver him to Jama to be killed, telling his superiors that Sharpe had been ambushed and captured.
However, Sharpe escaped and confronted Torrance, having already killed Sajit. He gave the captain a pistol and invited him to commit suicide to avoid disgrace. Torrance instead tried to shoot Sharpe, only to discover he hadn't primed the weapon. Clare interrupted them and Sharpe gave her the pistol and invited her to kill Torrance, who he suspected would talk his way out of it if accusations were made. Clare was willing but didn't have the strength to pull the trigger. Sharpe took the pistol from her and shot Torrance in the head, killing him.
