"'Madame la duchesse,' said Madame de Mirecourt, turning to Madame de Senneterre, 'is it not true that your son enlisted because he thought it cowardly to hire a man to go and be killed in his stead?'
"'Yes, that is true,' replied Madame de Senneterre; 'that is the reason my son gave us, and he carried out his resolution in spite of my tears and entreaties.'
"'Superb!' exclaimed Madame de la Rochaiguë. 'Nobody in the world but M. de Senneterre would ever have made and carried out such a chivalrous resolution as that.'
"'It is easy to judge of the generosity of his character from that fact alone,' added Madame de Mirecourt.
"'Oh, I can say with just pride that there is no better son in the world than my Gerald,' remarked Madame de Senneterre.
"'And when one says that, one says everything,' added Madame de la Rochaiguë.
"I listened in silence to this conversation, naturally sharing in the admiration that M. de Senneterre's generous act excited in those around me.
"A few minutes afterwards, a party of young men passed us on horseback. One of them, I noticed, paused on seeing us, wheeled his horse around and came back.
"This young man proved to be M. de Senneterre. He bowed to his mother; Madame de la Rochaiguë introduced him to me. He made a few courteous remarks, and then walked his horse along by the side of our carriage while we drove several times around the race-track.
"It is needless to say that scarcely a handsome equipage passed without an interchange of friendly bows between the occupants and M. de Senneterre, who seemed to be a general favourite.