he would feel the deepest resentment, were you or anyone to show,
by your actions, that you considered he has favoured the
transgressor."

"You are right, Desmond; and, at any rate for the present, I will
put my intention aside; but should he ever cross my path,
assuredly I will have a reckoning with him.

"But how is it that you, who are at least eight years younger than
I am, should argue as an old counsellor rather than a young
ensign?"

"I suppose, in the first place, it is from my bringing up. I lived
with and was educated by a good priest, one not wanting in
manliness and energy, but who often deplored the system of
duelling, which is as strong with us as it is here, and denounced
it as a relic of barbarism, and, at any rate, never to be put in
use on account of a heated quarrel over wine, but only if some
deadly injury had been inflicted, and even then better left alone.
Of course, as an officer in one of His Majesty's regiments, I
should be obliged to conform to the general usage; for, did I
decline, I should be regarded as having brought dishonour on the
corps. But my case differs altogether from yours.

"In the next place, knowing you were coming to Versailles, I
thought over what course you would be likely to pursue, and
considered it was probable you would lose no time in challenging
de Tulle. I have thought the matter over, in every light, and made
up my mind to endeavour to dissuade you from doing so, if the
opportunity offered.