" God has always had us in his special care,” mused the Count, viewing the pleasant landscape about from his window. “We have lived with the esteem of the world, with no ambitions upon the territories of our neighbors, with respect for the rights of others, supporting ourselves by our labor and by the fruits of the soil. We are enemies of none and bear ill will toward none.” His eye strayed to where the white and winding road disappeared into the Gap of Pinot toward the border and he added, “Except, of course, the damnable French. "

― Leonard Wibberley , The Mouse on Wall Street (The Mouse That Roared, #3)