"Shake hands, gentlemen," said de Galisonnière blithely. "Although no blood was shed it was a hot battle and I hope when you two meet again it will be in friendship and not in enmity. You are a fine swordsman, Lennox, and it was honorable of you, de Mézy, when you didn't know his caliber, to offer to take on, because of his youth, the older man, Mr. Willet."
Robert came back and offered his hand frankly. De Mézy, whose head was still ringing from his uncommon exertions and chagrin, took it. It was bitter to have lost, but he still lived. In a manner as he saw it, he had been disgraced, but time and the red wine and the white would take away the sting. He still lived. That was the grand and beautiful fact. Many more joyous days and nights awaited him in the company of Bigot and Cadet and Pean, powerful men who knew how to exercise their power and how to live at the same time. He should be grateful for a little while, at least, to the young Bostonnais, and he shook the proffered hand as heartily as his own damp, limp fingers would admit.
"May your stay in Quebec be as pleasant as you wish," he said, a bit thickly.
"Thanks," said Robert, who read the man's mind thoroughly.
De Galisonnière put away the unstained swords, quite satisfied with the affair, himself and everybody. An important follower of Bigot had been humbled, and yet he had not suffered in such a manner that he could call for the punishment of the one who had humbled him. The very youth of the Bostonnais would disarm resentment against him.
De Mézy's party with formal bows drew away, and Robert and his friends returned to the Inn of the Eagle.
CHAPTER XI
BIGOT'S BALL
"You needn't expect any trouble from the authorities," said de Galisonnière, when they sat once more in the great room at the inn. "Dueling is of course frowned upon theoretically, but it's a common practice, and since no life has been lost, not even any wound inflicted, you'll hear nothing of it from the government. And de Mézy, I imagine, will say as little about it as possible. He rather fancies himself as a swordsman, and he will not want everybody in Quebec to know that he was defeated and disarmed by a boy. Still, it will spread."
He and Glandelet took a courteous leave, and Robert thanked them for their services. He liked them both, especially de Galisonnière, and he was sorry that fate should put them on opposing sides in the war that all of them felt was surely coming.