"
The lofty pride of the aged prince found much consolation in the
knowledge that his son had not been attacked and wounded by an adversary
of low origin; there was nothing compromising in a duel between equals,
and he drew a deep breath of relief at thought of it.
"And pray, what is the real name of this valiant champion?" smilingly
asked the prince, with a roguish twinkle in his dark eyes--"this
dauntless knight, and brave defender of innocence and purity!"
"He is the Baron de Sigognac," Isabelle replied blushingly, with a
slight trembling perceptible in her sweet, low voice. "I reveal his name
fearlessly to you, my dear father, for you are both too just and too
generous to visit upon his head the disastrous consequences of a victory
that he deplores."
"De Sigognac?" said the prince. "I thought that ancient and illustrious
family was extinct. Is he not from Gascony?"
"Yes; his home is in the neighbourhood of Dax."
"Exactly--and the de Sigognacs have an appropriate coat of arms--three
golden storks on an azure field. Yes, it is as I said, an ancient and
illustrious family--one of the oldest and most honourable in France.
Paramede de Sigognac figured gloriously in the first crusade. A Raimbaud
de Sigognac, the father of this young man without doubt, was the devoted
friend and companion of Henri IV, in his youth, but was not often
seen at court in later years.
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