"I was about to hand you this note, Monseigneur."
De Lotbinière looked methodically at the seal, the handwriting, and the date of the postmark.
"Go," he said to the servant.
The incoming letter was from Louis de Léry, begging his uncle's advice in the affair of Lecour.
"The horror I have," wrote he, after relating the circumstances, "is not of death, for in that respect I shall not be found unworthy of our ancestors. It is solely the horror—the disgust—of being compelled to measure myself with a being so ill-assorted. I cannot limit myself in expressions at my comrades who force this upon me, nor of detestation and repugnance towards the creature itself. What am I do? Your experience just now would be invaluable to me.
"Louis R. C. de Léry."
"Peste, what a fine mess for us all!" de Lotbinière exclaimed. "The persistence of this fellow is incredible. They say de Bailleul supports him. I shall begin, then, by removing the support of de Bailleul. Louis must not fight this duel."
He picked out a sheet from his pile of gilt-edged note-paper, laid it down, selected a quill and tried it, then wrote de Bailleul a sharp letter, as follows—
"Mon cher de Bailleul,—They tell me to my amazement that it is you who are the protector of the young Canadian Lecour, who is just now making such a noise as an adventurer. He has at least obtained a high commission in the Bodyguard by the use of your name. I have no doubt that you are aware that he is the son of Lecour of St. Elphège, my former cantineer. Can it be true that, knowing his birth to be so base, you go so far as to permit him the use of your position in these intrigues? If that be so—for I hesitate to credit it—let me go farther and remark that a most serious consequence has just followed his indiscretion. He challenges my nephew, de Léry, for a date fixed and imminent. We consider you responsible for this situation. I consequently trust that you will find some way to suppress your brazen-faced protégé.
"And I have the honour to be, sir, &c.,
"The Mis. de Chartier de Lotbinière."