William told me to change into the clothes of a male attendant, and he tied up the dead Elena in a tent and pretended to be me. In this way it is possible to fool the eyes of the guards. William, with his nobility, succeeded in removing me from the barracks. After all, there was a war going on at the front. Leon devoted all his forces to his father, and no one would have noticed my departure at such a time.

We galloped along on horseback, William holding me in his arms under his black cloak. We did not speak again until he took me to a remote farmhouse....