"It was well for
this milor that he fell at the first shot, my dear," the exemplary young
Frenchman remarked; "a second might have been yet more fatal to him;
ordinarily I am sure of my coup, and you conceive that in an affair so
grave it was absolutely necessary that one or other should remain on the
ground." Nay, should M. de Kew recover from his wound, it was M. de
Castillonnes' intention to propose a second encounter between himself and
that nobleman. It had been Lord Kew's determination never to fire upon
his opponent, a confession which he made not to his second, poor scared
Lord Rooster, who bore the young Earl to Kehl, but to some of his nearest
relatives, who happened fortunately to be not far from him when he
received his wound, and who came with all the eagerness of love to watch
by his bedside.
We have said that Lord Kew's mother, Lady Walham, and her second son were
staying at Hombourg, when the Earl's disaster occurred. They had proposed
to come to Baden to see Kew's new bride, and to welcome her; but the
presence of her mother-in-law deterred Lady Walham, who gave up her
heart's wish in bitterness of spirit, knowing very well that a meeting
between the old Countess and herself could only produce the wrath, pain,
and humiliation which their coming together always occasioned.
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