"You may guess how anxious we were here," one of them said, "when Moore's
last despatch from Salamanca arrived, saying that he intended to advance,
and stating his reasons. Then there was a long silence; all sorts of
rumours reached us. Some said that, aided by a great Spanish army, he had
overthrown Napoleon, and had entered Madrid; others, again, stated that
his army had been crushed, and he, with the survivors, were prisoners, and
were on their way to the frontier--in fact, we had no certain news until
three days ago, when we heard of the battle, his death, and the
embarkation of the army, and its sailing for England. The last was a
terrible blunder."
"Only a temporary one, I should think," Captain Nelson said. "From Mr.
O'Connor's account of the state of the army, I should think that it is
just as well that they should have gone home to obtain an entirely new
rig-out; there would be no means of fitting them out here. A fortnight
ought to be enough to set them up in all respects, and as we certainly
shall not be able to march for another month--"
"For another three months, you mean, Nelson."
"Well, perhaps for another three months, the delay will not matter
materially."
"It won't matter at all, if the French oblige us by keeping perfectly
quiet, but if Soult menaces Portugal with invasion from the north, Lapisse
from the centre, and Victor from the south, we may have to defend
ourselves here in Lisbon before six weeks are out.
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