Note 948 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
After the Restoration he would also try to get out of a difficult situation on the same plea. He talked French freely to Mlle. de Kerouaille. However, when the French Ambassador, Courtin, wished to discuss with him the negotiations with the Dutch, he excused himself on the ground that he had forgotten nearly all his French since his return to England, and asked for delay to reflect on anything proposed in that language. He offered the same excuse for his Council, but Courtin retorted that many of them spoke French as well as English. Cp. J. J. Jusserand, A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II., London, 1892, p. 143.