"No; it is all healed."

"But you surely have been terribly wounded. What was it?"

"A sword-cut."

"You have had a duel?"

"Yes, with an Irish officer. I was in London then."

"And why? For—whom did you fight?"

"Oh! it was for a mere trifle. A quarrel following a hearty breakfast."

"Mon Dieu! if you had been killed!"

"I shouldn't be with you now."

"Was the wound serious?"