"
She was silent for a moment. Then--"I believe you, Monsieur," she said
simply. "You fought, then, to shield another--but why?"
"For three reasons, Mademoiselle. Firstly, those persons high in power
chose to think it my fault that the quarrel had arisen, and threatened to
hang me if the duel took place and the boy were harmed. Secondly, I myself
felt a kindness for the boy. Thirdly, because, whatever sins Heaven may
record against me, it has at least ever been my way to side against men
who, confident of their superiority, seek, with the cowardly courage of the
strong, to harm the weak. It is, Mademoiselle, the courage of the man who
knows no fear when he strikes a woman, yet who will shake with a palsy when
another man but threatens him."
"Why did you not tell me all this before?" she whispered, after a pause.
And methought I caught a quaver in her voice.
I laughed for answer, and she read my laugh aright; presently she pursued
her questions and asked me the name of the boy I had defended. But I
evaded her, telling her that she must need no further details to believe
me.
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