“It is true, sir, and I beg his pardon, for he has always been very good to me, but I was mad.”

“And you are not so any longer?”

“No; captivity has subdued me⁠—I have been here so long.”

“So long?⁠—when were you arrested, then?” asked the inspector.

“The 28th of February, 1815, at half-past two in the afternoon.”

“Today is the 30th of July, 1816⁠—why, it is but seventeen months.”