He meant what he said, for, although somewhat of a martinet (so says the biographer of Souville—Henri Chevalier), he was a good fellow at heart, but Woodriff, who had been in command at Norman Cross in 1797, was of another disposition: ‘un de ces moroses Anglais dont l’air sombre cache un caractère plus dur encore que sévère.’ He refused Ross’s request, and even admonished him for laxity of vigilance, and so our friends were sent back to the _Crown_, and got another month’s _cachot_. Then they were separated, Havas being sent to the _Suffolk_ and Tom Souville to the _Vengeance_. Six uneventful months passed; then the prisoners of the _Suffolk_ and _Vengeance_ were transferred to the _San Antonio_, and Havas and Souville were re-united, and took into partnership Étienne Thibaut. The commander of the _San Antonio_ was an affable Scot with a soft heart towards his prisoners. He took a fancy to Havas, often chatted with him, and at last engaged him as a French teacher. Captain B. had a pretty wife, ‘belle en tout point, blonde, grande, svelte et gracieuse,’ and a charming little girl, possessing ‘de bonnes joues roses, de grands yeux bleus, et des cheveux dorés à noyer sa tête si un ruban ne les eût captivés sur son cou; enfant pétulante et gaie, fraîche comme une fleur, vive comme un oiseau’. Havas makes friends with the child, but aims at the favour of the mother. Being a dashing, attractive, sailor-like fellow, he succeeds, and moves her sympathy for his fate. Finally Mrs. B. promises that he shall go with her to a French theatrical performance ashore, as her husband rarely quits the ship except on duty. So they go, one fine spring day, she and Havas, and a Scots Captain R. with them to save appearances, first to the hulk _Veteran_ where they learn that the play, to be acted in Portchester Castle, will be Racine’s _Phèdre_, and that it will commence at 4 p.m. They attended the play. An old caulker played Theseus, Phèdre was presented by a novice, and Hippolyte by a top-man, which probably means that it was ludicrous. After the play, Captain R. went into the town, leaving Havas and Mrs. B. to enjoy a beautiful springtime walk together, winding up with refreshments in an arbour which Mrs. B. had engaged. All this time, however, Havas was not so intoxicated with the delightful novelty of a _tête-à-tête_ walk with a pretty Englishwoman on a lovely day in a fair country, as not to be making mental notes of the local geography.