“After a while, sir, we got out on the open highway, and then we took breath and made for the French sentries. I tied a white handkerchief on to my long stick, and we marched along until we got to the first outpost; and when the sentry levelled his piece and asked us ‘Who goes there?’ my lord advanced and said, in a woman’s voice, ‘A distressed lady.’ The night was dark, but the sentry could see it was a lady, and then my lord said, ‘I am Madame Geoffrey, the wife of a French officer, and I desire you to bring the officer of the guard to me at once.’ That sounded straight enough, so the soldier took a little whistle from his belt and whistled, and pretty quickly a smart young lieutenant stepped up.