"If Carrel were wounded," said MM. Théodore Anne and Albert Berthier, "there would be mourning in both the camps, whilst if, on the contrary, M. Roux-Laborie were hit, there would only be grief in one camp, and the match would not be equal."
From every motive M. Roux-Laborie's seconds demand the substitution of Carrel for some other person, whomsoever they liked. M. Roux-Laborie was ready to accept that person whoever it might be.
These observations were transmitted to Carrel. He got down out of his carriage, came up to the seconds and thanked them for their complimentary remarks about himself, but he declared, at the same time, that he was not in the habit of being replaced; he had come to fight and meant to fight. Carrel's resolution was positive and they had to give in to him. They entered their carriages and went in search of a spot suitable for the encounter; they went far before they found it. At last they stopped behind a factory near the île Saint-Ouen. Until then they had found the ground too damp and slippery; there, alone, was the earth solid on account of the deposit of pit-coal. The two adversaries then dismounted from their carriages, bowed politely and put themselves on guard. The engagement was short and sharp. After two or three passes, they both lunged simultaneously. Carrel's sword merely penetrated M. Roux-Laborie's arm. The seconds stopped the duel crying, "There is a wound!"
They went up to M. Roux-Laborie.
"I, too, am wounded," Carrel quietly observed, putting his hand to his abdomen at the same time.
Whilst M. Roux-Laborie's doctor, M. Bouché-Dugua, was dressing his patient, Dumont, Carrel's doctor, discovered a serious injury to the groin. M. Roux-Laborie was able to be taken away in a carriage, but it was impossible to move Carrel. They ran to the factory and got a mattress which they stretched on the shafts of a cart they found ready at hand, then they placed Carrel on the mattress and his seconds, helped by M. Roux-Laborie's friends, who had remained with them, carried the wounded man to the factory, where they hastened to render him a hospitable reception. Dumont bled Carrel, but his condition was too grave to allow him to be driven to Paris; that would have risked a fatal accident, the movement of the carriage would have led to hæmorrhage. One of M. Roux-Laborie's seconds ran to Clichy and brought back a stretcher, upon which they could take Carrel to his house in the rue Blanche. They sent off quickly for M. Dupuytren, who rushed there. The injury was serious, the sword had gone in nearly three inches, and had penetrated the liver; they could not yet predict the upshot of the accident.
The same night the report of the event spread throughout Paris with the rapidity of bad news. You must have lived at that period of excitement and enthusiasm to have an idea of the magic which attached to the name of Carrel. On the morrow, the duel and its details filled the leading articles of every newspaper. We open the first to hand by chance—Le Corsaire—and we read—
"2 February 1833.—It is with inexpressible grief that all fair-minded persons learnt yesterday the news of the wound received by M. Armand Carrel, in a duel with M. Roux-Laborie, one of the Legitimists whose names were sent to Le National. But it is quite impossible to give any idea of the indignation and sorrow of patriots upon learning this deplorable event, of Carlists especially, who, by reason of our activity, need not have been driven to despair; what we should have done as a duty, we now fulfil as a sacred obligation. M. Armand Carrel is by virtue of his fine talent, his noble strength of character, by the renown and usefulness of the services he has rendered, and, above all, by the detestation which he has expressed against the enemies of our liberties, is one of those men whose youth has already been a credit to the country. The party which has struck him down has not as much wealth as M. Carrel. Obeying a generous impulse, whilst his reason, at the same time, was opposed to an unjust attack, he acceded to a duel on behalf of the sad cause in which we are now engaged. He was injured in the groin by a sword, but his condition is not past hope, and M. Dupuytren, who went to him, confirms the seriousness of the wound without giving up hope. There is such a splendid future before M. Carrel that we cannot harbour the distressing idea that it may soon terminate. He is one of those men who seem bound up with the destiny of his country. He showed touching sympathy when misfortune struck down one of our friends in the same cause, and we shall not cease to follow him with our gratitude and devotion and with the patriotism which he taught so well, of which he has given us such a fine example."
The whole of Paris called to inquire at Carrel's house. Amongst the twenty first names written in the visitors' book were La Fayette, Chateaubriand, Béranger, Thiers and Dupin. The society Aide-toi et le Ciel t'aidera, appointed a committee of three members to go, in the name of the whole society, to inscribe their names and express their sympathy for the loyal and courageous conduct he had displayed throughout the affair. The committee was composed of MM. Thiard, Lariboissière and Lemercier, of the Institut. On the night of the day when the duel took place, M. Albert Berthier, one of M. Roux-Laborie's seconds, received the following letter from M. d'Hervas:—
"MONSIEUR,—It is with profound regret that, in exchange for your good and generous action of this morning, I feel myself compelled to ask you to fix a duel for to-morrow. M. Carrel is the man I love and revere most in the world. He is seriously wounded, and honour demands that I avenge him. Your obliging conduct of this morning alone kept the request from my lips that I now make you. I know you to be a man of honour, and am certain you will understand me. I spend the night with M. Carrel, where I shall expect your reply to-morrow morning. Choose the arms, place of meeting and time; but I desire that our encounter should take place during the day, for I am obliged to return at night to my regiment.—Accept my respectful greetings,
"D'HERVAS"