In matters of love, or rather, of matrimony--which is not quite the same
thing--opposition is common enough. But the opposers are usually members
of either of the interested families. Now the families--that is to say,
the heads of the families--being agreed and even anxious to bring about the
union of Yvonne de Canaples and Andrea de Mancini, it was something new to
have a cabal of persons who, from motives of principle--as St. Auban had
it--should oppose the alliance so relentlessly as to even resort to
violence if no other means occurred to them. It seemed vastly probable
that Andrea would be disposed of by a knife in the back, and more than
probable that a like fate would be reserved for me, since I had constituted
myself his guardian angel. For my own part, however, I had a pronounced
distaste to ending my days in so unostentatious a fashion. I had also a
notion that I should prove an exceedingly difficult person to assassinate,
and that those who sought to slip a knife into me would find my hide
peculiarly tough, and my hand peculiarly ready to return the compliment.
So deeply did I sink into ponderings of this character that it was not
until two hours afterwards that I again found myself drawing near the
Conn?table.
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