"
"I perceive that it is your aim to be offensive."
"Oh, but you are mistaken, M. le Marquis. I have no wish to be
offensive. But I resent having hands violently laid upon me,
especially when they are hands that I cannot consider clean, In the
circumstances I can hardly be expected to be polite."
The elder man's eyelids flickered. Almost he caught himself
admiring Andre-Louis' bearing. Rather, he feared that his own must
suffer by comparison. Because of this, he enraged altogether, and
lost control of himself.
"You spoke of me as the assassin of Lagron. I do not affect to
misunderstand you. You expounded your views to me once before, and
I remember."
"But what flattery, monsieur!"
"You called me an assassin then, because I used my skill to dispose
of a turbulent hot-head who made the world unsafe for me. But how
much better are you, M. the fencing-master, when you oppose yourself
to men whose skill is as naturally inferior to your own!"
M. de La Tour d'Azyr's friends looked grave, perturbed.
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