"No," he said, laughing at Rupert's gestures of dislike to
duelling, "his gracious Majesty has strictly forbidden all
duelling, and--well, I will not say that there is none of it, but
it goes on behind the scenes, for exile from court is the least
punishment, and in some cases rigorous imprisonment when any
special protege of the king has been wounded.
"And now, Rupert, it is time to be off. The time for gathering in
the antechamber is at hand. By the way, I have said nothing to the
king of our former knowledge of each other. There were reasons why
it was better not to mention the fact."
Rupert nodded as he buckled on his sword and prepared to accompany
his friend.
Along stately corridors and broad galleries, whose magnificence
astonished and delighted Rupert, they made their way until they
reached the king's antechamber. Here were assembled a large number
of gentlemen, dressed in the extreme of fashion, some of whom
saluted the marquis, and begged particulars of him concerning the
late battles; for in those days news travelled slowly, newspapers
were scarcely in existence, special correspondents were a race of
men undreamed of.
To each of those who accosted him the marquis presented Rupert, who
was soon chatting as if at Saint James's instead of Versailles. In
Flanders he had found that all the better classes spoke French,
which was also used as the principal medium of communication
between the officers of that many-tongued body the allied army,
consequently he spoke it as fluently and well as he had done as a
lad.
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