'You have fought a great many duels?'
'Yes,' I said.
'Did you ever strike a foul blow in one?'
'Never,' I answered. 'Why do you ask?'
'Well, because I--wanted to confirm an impression. To be frank,
M. de Berault, I seem to see in you two men.
'Two men?'
'Yes, two men. One, the man who captured me; the other, the man
who let my friend go free to-day.'
'It surprised you that I let him go? That was prudence, M. de
Cocheforet,' I replied. 'I am an old gambler. I know when the
stakes are too high for me. The man who caught a lion in his
wolf-pit had no great catch.'
'No, that is true,' he answered smiling, 'And yet--I find two men
in your skin.'
'I daresay that there are two in most men's skins,' I answered
with a sigh. 'But not always together. Sometimes one is there,
and sometimes the other.'
'How does the one like taking up the other's work?' he asked
keenly.
I shrugged my shoulders. 'That is as may be,' I said. 'You do
not take an estate without the debts.'
He did not answer for a moment, and I fancied that his thoughts
had reverted to his own case.
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