He appeared to have found some slight
difference in the length, for he took two steps away from me, holding the
weapons well in the light, where for a moment he surveyed them attentively.
His hands shook so that the blades clattered one against the other the
while. But, of a sudden, taking both rapiers by the hilt, he struck the
blades together with a ringing clash, then flung them both behind him as
far as he could contrive, leaving me thunderstruck with amazement, and
marvelling whether fear had robbed him of his wits.
Not until I perceived that the trees around me appeared to spring into life
did it occur to me that that clashing of blades was a signal, and that I
was trapped. With the realisation of it I was upon Vilmorin in a bound,
and with both hands I had caught the dog by the throat before he thought of
flight. The violence of my onslaught bore him to the ground, and I, not to
release my choking grip, went with him.
For a moment we lay together where we had fallen, his slender body twisting
and writhing under me, his swelling face upturned and his protruding,
horror-stricken eyes gazing into mine that were fierce and pitiless.
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