Bardelys the Magnificent; being an account of the strange wooing pursued by the Sieur Marcel de Saint-Pol, marquis of Bardelys... by Rafael Sabatini
page 54 of 301 (17%)
page 54 of 301 (17%)
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inquired Lavedan, with the air of a man setting an unanswerable
question. "Mon Dieu!" I cried, "will the world never forget that indiscretion? An indiscretion of youth, no doubt much exaggerated outside Court circles." The Vicomte eyed me in some astonishment for a moment. "Monsieur de Lesperon," he said at length, "you appear to hold this Bardelys in high esteem. He has a staunch supporter in you and a stout advocate. Yet me you cannot convince." And he shook his head solemnly. "Even if I did not hold him to be such a man as I have pronounced him, but were to account him a paragon of all the virtues, his coming hither remains an act that I must resent." "But why, Monsieur le Vicomte?" "Because I know the errand that brings him to Lavedan. He comes to woo my daughter." Had he flung a bomb into my bed he could not more effectively have startled me. "It astonishes you, eh?" he laughed bitterly. "But I can assure you that it is so. A month ago I was visited by the Comte de Chatellerault - another of His Majesty's fine favourites. He came unbidden; offered no reason for his coming, save that he was making a tour of the province for his amusement. His acquaintance with me was of the slightest, and I had no desire that it should |
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