" I told him my own
story and yours and asked him to judge what my feelings must be by his
own. He has a heart, and a kind one, Colonel Talbot, you may say what
you please. He took a sheet of paper, and wrote the pass with his own
hand. "I will not-trust myself with my council," he said "they will
argue me out of what is right. I will not endure that a friend, valued
as I value you, should be loaded with the painful reflections which must
afflict you in ease of further misfortune in Colonel Talbot's family;
nor will I keep a brave enemy a prisoner under such circumstances.
Besides," said he, "I think I can justify myself to my prudent advisers,
by pleading the good effect such lenity will produce on the minds of the
great English families with whom Colonel Talbot is connected."'
'There the politician peeped out,' said the Colonel.
'Well, at least he concluded like a king's son--"Take the passport; I
have added a condition for form's sake; but if the Colonel objects to
it, let him depart without giving any parole whatever. I come here to
war with men, but not to distress or endanger women."'
'Well, I never thought to have been so much indebted to the Pretend--'
'To the Prince,' said Waverley, smiling.
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