He stood
entirely upon the defensive, and was exceedingly wary and prudent,
hoping, as his adversary must be already considerably fatigued by his
encounter with Malartic, that he might be able to get the better of him
this time, and retrieve his previous defeat. At the very beginning he
had succeeded in raising a small silver whistle to his lips with his
left hand--and its shrill summons brought five or six armed attendants
into the room.
"Carry away this woman," he cried, "and put out those two rascals. I
will take care of the captain myself."
The sudden interruption of these fresh forces astonished de Sigognac,
and as he saw two of the men lift up and carry off Isabelle--who had
fainted quite away--he was thrown for an instant off his guard, and very
nearly run through the body by his opponent.
Roused to a sense of his danger, he attacked the duke with renewed fury,
and with a terrible thrust, that made him reel, wounded him seriously in
the upper part of the chest.
Meanwhile Lampourde and Scapin had shown the duke's lackeys that it
would not be a very easy matter to put them out, and were handling them
rather roughly, when the cowardly fellows, seeing that their master was
wounded, and leaning against the wall, deathly pale, thought that he was
done for, and although they were fully armed, took to their heels and
fled, deaf to his feeble cry for assistance.
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