" And then he lied romantically. Surely a man
who lived by the sword should have a weakness for the romantic.
"You see, my enemy is a swordsman of great strength - the best blade
in the province, if not the best blade in France. That is his
repute. I thought I would come to Paris to learn something of the
art, and then go back and kill him. That, to be frank, is why your
notice attracted me. You see, I have not the means to take lessons
otherwise. I thought to find work here in the law. But I have
failed. There are too many lawyers in Paris as it is, and whilst
waiting I have consumed the little money that I had, so that... so
that, enfin, your notice seemed to me something to which a special
providence had directed me."
M. des Amis gripped him by the shoulders, and looked into his face.
"Is this true, my friend?" he asked.
"Not a word of it," said Andre-Louis, wrecking his chances on an
irresistible impulse to say the unexpected. But he didn't wreck
them. M. des Amis burst into laughter; and having laughed his fill,
confessed himself charmed by his applicant's fundamental honesty.
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