I became very pale; I felt my legs fail me; I sought for a reply, but could find none-I was silent.

The officer waited for his reply, and seeing it so long coming, he burst into a laugh, turned upon his heel, and re-entered the house.

I returned to the seminary.
"I am a gentleman born, and my blood is warm, as you may have remarked, my dear d'Artagnan.

The insult was terrible, and although unknown to the rest of the world, I felt it live and fester at the bottom of my heart.
I informed my superiors that I did not feel myself sufficiently prepared for ordination, and at my request the ceremony was postponed for a year.
I sought out the best fencing master in Paris, I made an agreement with him to take a lesson every day, and every day for a year I took that lesson.

Then, on the anniversary of the day on which I had been insulted, I hung my cassock on a peg, assumed the costume of a cavalier, and went to a ball given by a lady friend of mine and to which I knew my man was invited.