which fully explains many acts of his adventurous life: “I am terribly mortified at being what nature has made me, and that the natural lack of passion in my temperament, which has prevented my engaging in amorous intrigues, should induce my friends in France, in Russia, and in England to imagine, in their innocence, that I am of the female sex; and the malice of my enemies has strengthened all this.” D’Eon travelled in the north of England under an assumed name and, after spending a few weeks in Scotland, was preparing to proceed to Ireland when news reached him through the papers which obliged him to alter his plans. His friends, alarmed at his disappearance and fearing that he had fallen a victim to some attempt on the part of those interested in the wagers, were causing inquiries to be made in London and had published his description. His creditors, no less concerned, had just demanded that the doors of his lodging should be sealed; lastly, he was publicly accused of participation in the wagers. Dreading lest the indiscreet zeal of the officers of the law should lead to the discovery of his papers, d’Eon hastily returned to London. Upon his arrival he at once repaired to the Mansion House, and delivered to the Lord Mayor a deposition under oath to the effect that he was “not interested to the value of one shilling, directly or indirectly, in the policies of insurance” made on his sex. _The Public Advertiser_ published this affidavit the same evening, and d’Eon, anxious to clear himself from such an imputation in the sight of his chief, sent him an extract from the newspaper, not without accompanying it by fresh protestations. “It is not my fault,” he wrote, “if the rage for betting on all matters is a national failing among Englishmen. I have given proof, and will again do so to their hearts’ content, that I am not only a man, but a captain of dragoons with sword in hand.”