`` not , of course , '' he said hastily , `` that i mean we ought not have taken advantage of the opportunity , or that it would have been unfair ; this is war , after all , and i do not mean to be romantical-but as it has been lost , anyway , we may console ourselves that the quality of our victory will be the greater , if no-one can say napoleon did not have a fair chance to win , that he was only taken by surprise . ''