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Chicot the Jester
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Then the eight gentlemen went out, arm in arm, talking gaily on different subjects, until Quelus said, “Here is a solitary place, with a good footing.”
“Ma foi, yes.”
“Well! we thought that you would one day accompany us here to meet M. de Bussy, who has invited us all here.”
“It is true,” said Bussy.
“Do you accept?” said Maugiron.
“Certainly; we rejoice at such an honor.”
“That is well,” said Schomberg; “shall we each choose an opponent?”
“No,” said Bussy, “that is not fair; let us trust to chance, and the first one that is free can join the others.”
“Let us draw lots then,” said Quelus.
“One moment,” said Bussy, “first let us settle the rules of the game.”
“They are simple; we will fight till death ensues!”
“Yes, but how?”
“With sword and dagger.”
“On foot?”
“Oh, yes! on horseback one’s movements are not so free.”
“Then, on foot.”
“What day?”
“The soonest possible.”
“No,” said D’Epernon, “I have a thousand things to settle and a will to make; I would rather wait five or six days.”
“So be it.”
“Then draw lots.”
“One moment! divide the ground into four compartments, each for a pair.”
“Well said.”
“I propose for number one, the long square between the chestnuts; it is a fine place.”
“Agreed.”
“But the sun? one would be turned to the east.”
“No,” said Bussy, “that is not fair;” and he proposed a new position, which was agreed to.
Schomberg and Ribeirac came first. They were the first pair; Quelus and Antragues the second; then Livarot and Maugiron the third. D’Epernon, who saw himself left to Bussy, grew very pale.
“Now, gentlemen,” said Bussy, “until the day of the combat, let us be friends. Will you accept a dinner at the Hôtel Bussy?”
All agreed, and returned with Bussy to his hotel, where a sumptuous banquet united them till morning.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
IN WHICH CHICOT SLEEPS
The movements of the young men had been remarked by the king and Chicot. The king walked up and down, waiting impatiently for his friends to return; but Chicot followed them at a distance, and saw enough to be satisfied of their intentions. When he returned to the house he found the king, walking up and down, muttering.
“Ah! my dear friend! do you know what has become of them?” cried Henri.
“Whom? your minions?”
“Alas! yes, my poor friends.”
“They must lie very low by this time.”
“Have they been killed?” cried Henri; “are they dead?”
“Dead I fear – ”
“And you laugh, wretch?”
“Oh! my son, dead drunk.”
“Oh! Chicot, how you terrified me. But why do you calumniate these gentlemen?”
“On the contrary, I praise them.”
“Be serious, I beg; do you know that they went out with the Angevins?”
“Of course, I know it.”
“What was the result?”
“What I tell you; that they are dead drunk.”
“But Bussy!”
“He is intoxicating them; he is a dangerous man.”
“Chicot, for pity’s sake – ”
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Да, первый рассказ из сборника, что я успела прочитать, что надо! И написано хорошо, и содержание необычное, но жизненное. Очень понравилось, хотя там...
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