d'Aubepine had
fought a duel on the spot, in which my brother had been wounded.
Meg was nearly as frantic as I was. We could not speak to Eustace,
and Solivet and d'Aubepine, finding themselves known, had both
hurried away at peep of day, for it was a serious thing to have
nearly killed a man in office; but Meg desired that if Sir Francis
called to inquire for my brother we should see him, and she also sent
Nicolas to inquire for M. Darpent, who, we heard, was confined to his
bed with a broken arm.
Poor Clement! such was his reward for the interview where I had used
him so ill, and been so unjust to him. For, as we came to
understand, it really was all that wretched little Cecile's fault.
She would do anything to please that husband of hers, and she
communicated to him that she understood the secret of my resistance
to the Poligny match, and had been infinitely shocked at my behaviour
at Lady Ommaney's.
The cowardly fellow had hated Clement ever since the baffling of the
attempt on Margaret. So he told Solivet, and they united in this
attack, with a half a dozen of their bravoes, got together for the
occasion! We heard the truth of the affair from Sir Francis, and it
was well for Solivet that he was out of my reach!
As for my mother, she thought it only an overflow of zeal for the
honour of the family, and held it to be my fault that her dear son
had been driven to such measures. Nothing was bad enough for the
Ommaneys! Nothing would restore my reputation but marrying the
little Chevalier at Easter.
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