FRENCH LEAVE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of French leave

"French leave" Quotes from Famous Books

... was due the government, was about to loan it, when Lincoln, not at all disquieted, excused himself to the man from headquarters to go over to his boarding-house. Usually when a debtor thus eclipses himself the official expects to learn he is a defaulter and has "taken French leave," as was said on the border. But the ex-postmaster immediately came over, and, producing an old blue woolen sock, such as field-hands wore, poured out coin, copper and silver, to the exact amount of the debit. Much as the poor adventurer needed cash in the interval, ...

— The Lincoln Story Book • Henry L. Williams

... word of which he had written himself, 'The Mission of Woman in the World'. And while the Duchess was busily at work to fit him with an Embassy, he was only waiting to be gazetted before taking French leave and playing off this dirty trick on her, after fifteen years of uninterrupted happiness. 'The mission of woman in the world!' Well, the Prince understood what the mission of woman was. The next thing was to better the lesson. ...

— The Immortal - Or, One Of The "Forty." (L'immortel) - 1877 • Alphonse Daudet

... me about it as we ride into Lisbon. I want you to come with me. Lady O'Moy must forgive me if I take French leave, since she is nowhere to ...

— The Snare • Rafael Sabatini