They cannot at once be before and behind him." The man's cool assurance and cooler contempt of Samoval's views stung the Count into some sharpness.
"Are you seeking information, sir, or are you bestowing it ?" he inquired.
"Ah! Your pardon, Monsieur le Comte.

I inquire of course.

I put forward arguments to anticipate conditions that may possibly be erroneous." Samoval waived the point.

"There is another force besides the British and Portuguese troops that you have left out of your calculations." "And that ?" The major was still faintly incredulous.
"You should remember what Wellington obviously remembers: that a French army depends for its sustenance upon the country it is invading.

That is why Wellington is stripping the French line of penetration as bare of sustenance as this card-table.