“Monsieur is of England, then?”
“Monseigneur, I am an English officer.”
“You speak French well, monsieur.”
“Which serves me well in France, as you see, monseigneur.”
The Duke was a trifle nettled. “Where were you born, monsieur?”
There was a short pause, and then the prisoner, who had enjoyed the other’s perplexity, said:
“On the Isle of Jersey, monseigneur.”
The petulant look passed immediately from the face of the Duke; the horizon was clear at once.
“Ah, then, you are French, monsieur!”
“My flag is the English flag; I was born a British subject, and I shall die one,” answered the other steadily.