"But the 3-1/2 lahks that the Company has to pay to the
Nawab, is that a trifle? Yes, my dear fellow, for I should
like it to have to pay still more, to teach it how to leave
this Factory, which is, beyond contradiction, the finest of its
settlements, denuded of soldiers and munitions of war, so
that it is not possible for us to show our teeth."

The wish was prophetic.

Like the English the French were forbidden by the Nawab to fortify
themselves. Renault dared not pay attention to this order. He had
seen what had happened to the English by the neglect of proper
precautions, and when things were at their worst, the Nawab had to
seek his alliance against the English, grant him leave to fortify
Chandernagore, and, later on, even to provide him with money under
the pretence that he was simply restoring the sum forcibly extorted
from him the previous year.[24] Trade was at a standstill, and
Renault was determined that if the enemies of his nation were
destined to take the Company's property, they should have the utmost
difficulty possible in doing so. He expended the money on provisions
and ammunition. At the same time, that he might not lose any chance
of settling affairs peaceably with the English, he refused to
associate himself with the Nawab, and entered upon negotiations for
a neutrality in the Ganges. To protect himself if these failed, he
began raising fortifications and pulling down the houses which
commanded the Fort or masked its fire.

He could not pull down the houses on the south of the Fort, from
which Clive subsequently made his attack, partly for want of time,