II
He succeeded in this object no better than the rest of the garrison and
the whole of society. The two young officers, of no especial consequence
till then, became distinguished by the universal curiosity as to the
origin of their quarrel. Madame de Lionne's salon was the centre
of ingenious surmises; that lady herself was for a time assailed by
inquiries as being the last person known to have spoken to these unhappy
and reckless young men before they went out together from her house to
a savage encounter with swords, at dusk, in a private garden. She
protested she had not observed anything unusual in their demeanour.
Lieut. Feraud had been visibly annoyed at being called away. That was
natural enough; no man likes to be disturbed in a conversation with a
lady famed for her elegance and sensibility. But in truth the subject
bored Madame de Lionne, since her personality could by no stretch of
reckless gossip be connected with this affair. And it irritated her to
hear it advanced that there might have been some woman in the case.
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