Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-05-08
A DUEL IN THE
OLDEN TIME

whats that you say-Mlle. Houte-
fort is more beautiful than Mile. de
Lafayette?"
81 maintain that Mile. de Houtefort
is far more beautiful than Mile. de
Lafayette"
every we'll Therev' And the first
speaker drew his glove gently across
the face of the second.
Gentlemen" said a youth standing
by, 81 wish to be one of the seconds In
this meeting"
: "Bah-a STRIPPING like you!"
"You know Of the cardinals edict
and remember the execution Of the
Count de Bouteville and his second for
fighting a duel Well, if you don't &C.
cept my services l will inform on you
and you will go to the Bastille instead
Of to the dueling ground"
"Put him on the list"
This was preliminary to one of thou
sands of duels so prevalent in France
in the early part of the seventeenth
century. Indeed, they were so preva-
lent. so fatal, that Cardinal Richelieu,
virtual ruler. fearing all the gentlemen
in the kingdom would be killed, pro-
mulgated an edict against dueling and
| when it was broken by De BOuteville
Of the famous family of Montmorenci
made an example Of him at the block.
Neither Of the speakers, two officers of
the army, cared anything for the
beauty of the two young women men,
| toned, the one the deposed, the other
the incoming, favorite Of the king.
They simply wished pretext
f, The youth was a cadet, CASTOR Re-
nadot, who had just entered the army
and was affected by the dueling craze.
He went straight to his sweetheart,
Mile. Leonora de Rueil. girl of sew
enteen, and told with great delight and
| pride that he was to be second at
duel, which at the time meant that in
all probability he would fight the same
as his principal and, fighting, would
either kill or be killed by his adversary.
Now. Mile. de Rueil was at an age,
seventeen, when love is liable to alb.
sorb girls very existence. 1t was so
with her To lose her lover she dread
ed far more than losing her life. She
| paled at his announcement, but, recOv-
ering herself, pretended to rejoice with
him. The thought of his retiring from
the affair did not once occur to her, for
she knew that he had far better die
than suffer the odium such a course
would involve. Besides, she knew 1t
would be impossible to persuade him
f; to desist.
"When does the meeting occur" she
! asked.
Tonight at / o'clock We fight by
the light of torches in the wood near
the bridge two miles UP the Seine. The
cardinal has spoiled open meetings"
Every well; let us have a parting cup
together"
She went for wine and, returning,
urged her lover. to drink. One bottle
after another was brought on until the
clock struck IL; then RenadOt en-
braced the girl and staggered away.
AT the door he was seized by two serv-
ants belonging to the house, bound and
gagged and carried to an upper room.
At 1 o'clock the two principals to the
duel and their seconds were on the
ground except CASTOR Renadot. They
stood waiting in the glare Of torches
held by attendants. Presently a coach
was driven up, and Renadot. masked.
stepped out.
Pardon my delay, gentlemen" he
said 81 have met with a detention.
My sweetheart strove to keep me-"
"Why are you masked"
"To enable you all to say you did
not see me here. The lady has gone to
the cardinal to procure my temporary
arrest. I would advise beginning at
once, or we may suffer an Interrupt
ton"
The advice was needed. and the prin-
cipals fell to with rapiers. 1t was not
| long before two of the seconds entered
! the fray, then two others and at last
/ the third pair. One of the principals
and two of the seconds were killed.
i The rest were severely or slightly
! wounded. Renadot among the latter.
! AS soon as the affair had ended he
entered his carriage and was driven
away to the house of the De Rueils.
| Reaching il, he entered and climbed to
the room where he had been taken by
the servants. Entering, there were
two Renadots. He who entered threw
i.~.y rs r.g''. ;nd stood before the
other as Mile. Dc Blla1.
"Is II you vino ,iGv- Hsgraced me?
Hers, run yor1 CIV 40 through my
.;eait."
'r heve not So Il --1~. You
TO-: tOw ray fati,t RS ,,n.,i,t ne
to fence. We.,, ''c. D thc GU ling
ground as You, only wore ny both
er's clothes. They as =. WV vac
masked, and l told the pretty sio,y
Of your sweetheart ! vir' .-lorted
J your intention at the Taiais Cardinal.
! We seconds were soon engaged,
against an awkward fellow. whom l
disarmed and gave him his life. All
Paris will be talking tomorrow Of your
magnanimity."