"Yes, madame; and yesterday morning they brought him home wounded. A bad sword-wound in the side, which might have been mortal! But it seems he's going to get well; the doctor hopes he will, but doctors are mistaken so often!"
"Oh! mon Dieu! Why, this is horrible! With whom did he fight?"
"His valet doesn't know, madame. The count didn't take him with him."
"Well, I will find out, I will find out. A duel! Who besides Gustave could have had the idea of fighting with Monsieur de la Bérinière? That fellow was born to be the bane of my life.—So you didn't see the count?"
"No, madame; the doctor said that nobody must see him to-day; but to-morrow, perhaps, that order will be changed."
"The poor count! if only he doesn't die! Just think, Justine, what an awful nuisance for me!"
"So it is. But if madame were a countess, it wouldn't be but half bad."
"You say the doctor promises that he will recover?"
"So the valet told me."
"Well, I will go myself to-morrow; but I must see my sister first."