Where good cavalry prove themselves

‘Better than the British?’ says he, with his cocky grin.
‘I’ll tell you when I’ve seen ’em fight,’ says I bluntly.
‘You won’t deny they’re disciplined to perfection,’ cried he.
‘On parade,’ says I. ‘No doubt they’d charge well enough in a body too. But let’s see ’em in a mêlée, every man for himself; that’s where good cavalry prove themselves.’
This is true; of course, no one would run faster from a mêlée than I, but Starnberg wasn’t to know that.

Royal Flash, p.83, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1978.

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