he could safely wait another two weeks , he thought , before replying to germain 's letter-which he had deftly magicked out of the diplomatic pouch when he 'd seen william 's name upon it-at which time he could truthfully say that , alas , by the time the letter had been received , lord ellesmere was somewhere in the wilderness between north carolina and new york , and thus could not be informed that he was recalled to england , though he ( grey ) was positive that ellesmere would greatly regret the loss of his opportunity to join sir george 's staff , when he learned of it-several months hence .