Page:Narrative of a captivity and adventures in France and Flanders between the years 1803 and 1809.djvu/90

 plainly intimated that a refusal would be attended with escape; it ran to this effect—"Such is the character of the British officer, that his 'parole d'honneur' will better secure his person, than locks, bolts, and fortresses." A few days after, I was delighted to learn, that the minister's answer was confined to a simple negative. On the arrival of my clothes and dogs, from Verdun, I pretended to think of little else, except the study of Spanish; and these being the usual subjects of my conversation, the general suspicion gradually subsided, till no one but Ricketts and Cadell entertained an idea of the many schemes I was plotting with a view to departure. I kept up a correspondence, per post, with my friend Moyses, and several others, in Verdun, all of whom were instructed to declaim against escape, as being extremely dangerous, and disapproved of by the senior officers; this I did, because all our letters were opened, and it tended to deceive the police. It was my wish, that Moyses should make interest to be sent to Valenciennes; such removals being sometimes effected through