"No; I got it from my opponent, Monsieur Cherami."
"Your opponent! You have seen him again?"
"To be sure; we are the best of friends. He's a hot-head, but a very good fellow."
"Did you ask him who those two Mohicans were who acted as his seconds?"
"Yes; one was a rich landed proprietor of Auvergne, who sends water here from Mont-Dore; the other was his clerk."
"Ah, yes! the so-called Pole, Monsieur de Chamousky. I shall know those two worthies again."
They arrived at Philippe's. The count ordered a dainty dinner, with wines of the finest vintages; and as he felt very thirsty, he deemed it advisable to begin with champagne frappé. His guests celebrated the count's recovery, and drank to his future bride; Monsieur de Gervier, who was in very high spirits, insisted on drinking to Cherami's seconds, whom he felt sure of meeting some day, when he proposed to buy some Mont-Dore water of them. The count did not spare himself, but tossed off glass after glass of champagne, crying:
"This is the end of my bachelor life!"
"Be careful, my dear De la Bérinière," said Monsieur de Maugrillé; "for a convalescent, you go rather fast; you don't spare yourself at all."
"I have never felt so well."