“Then you admit the charge,” said the Frenchman eagerly, as if he had succeeded in entrapping a confession.
“So far, sir, as the expressions of my poor judgment on the effectiveness of your army, and its chances against such a force as we have yonder, I am not only prepared to avow, but if you think the remarks worth the trouble of hearing, to repeat them.”
“As a prisoner of war, sir, according to the eighty-fourth article of the Code Militaire, the offence must be tried by a court-martial, one-half of whose members shall have the same rank as the accused.”
“I ask nothing better, sir, nor will I ever believe that any man who has carried a sword could deem the careless comments of a prisoner on what he sees around him a question of crime and punishment.”
“I would advise you to reflect a little, sir, ere you suffer matters to proceed so far. The witnesses against you—”
“The witnesses!” exclaimed the Knight, in amazement.
“Yes, sir, four dragoons of a German regiment, thoroughly conversant with your language and ours, have deposed to the words—”
“I avow everything I have spoken, and am ready to abide by it.”
“Take care, sir,—take care.”
“Pardon me, sir,” said Darcy, with a look of quiet irony, “but it strikes me that the exigencies of your army must be far greater than I deemed them, or you had never had recourse to a system of attempted intimidation.”