Indeed, he knew French, and Spanish, though he was no stranger to proper French. The way he spoke it, however, was as she supposed. He replied in kind, "I've kept most people swayed far easier with my Italian, but French is a close second." He chuckled, and went back to English, "Sorry, rusty at it, only ever time I used French recently was to talk to th'Creole men who had lived nearby in our Louisiana home. Easier to talk t'them in that than it is to speak English. Couldn't understand a word of their English."