'He was deliberately teasing you, Your Grace,' explained Cardonnel. 'Ask him to introduce himself and you'll understand why.'

'Captain Daniel Rawson, at your service,' said the prisoner, doffing his hat.

'Is that you, Daniel?' asked Marlborough, peering at him. He let out a cry of recognition. 'By Jove, I do believe it is! Since when did you join the Royal-Carabinier regiment?'

'It was a temporary enlistment, Your Grace. Luckily, the man who loaned me this uniform was close to my own height and build. I'll be happy to tell you the full story. First, however,' he added, reaching into his right boot to extract something, 'here are some dispatches sent to Marshal Villeroi. I had the good fortune to intercept them on the way.'

'Tell us how,' said Marlborough, dismissing the guard with a flick of his hand and taking the missives from Daniel. 'Are these from King Louis himself?'

'They're copies of his orders,' said Daniel. 'I had to deliver the originals. I broke the seals on them, noted their contents then sealed them up again with care. Only by handing them over in person to Marshal Villeroi could I be certain of being entrusted with his reply.'

Cardonnel was amazed. 'You went straight to the heart of the French camp?'

'It seemed a shame to waste this uniform.'

'And you have Villeroi's reply?'

'In his own fair hand,' said Daniel, fishing it out of his other boot and holding it up. 'He's expecting it to be opened in Versailles and not here.'

'You took a terrible risk, Daniel.'

'It was all in a good cause, sir.'

'This is wonderful,' said Marlborough, reading the two copies before passing them to his secretary. 'Villeroi has orders to retire to Tongres and adopt a defensive attitude. It was ever thus — defend, defend, defend. That's all they do. Bringing the French to battle is more difficult than passing through the eye of a needle with a herd of camels.