"Vilely, monseigneur," answered the other; "a shipwrecked enemy should never be made prisoner, or at least he should be enlarged on parole; but I have been confined like a pirate in a sink of a jail."
"Of what country are you?"
Raising his eyebrows in amazement the young man answered:
"I am an Englishman, monseigneur."
"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: