In my young days there was no finer blade at the Court of France than I was; and Monsieur Dessin is, in the new style, what I was in the old.

The lad may be a soldier--" "He shall never be a soldier," Madam Dorothy broke out.
"That, madam," the colonel said courteously, "will be for the lad himself and for circumstances to decide.

When I was his age there was nothing less likely than that I should be a soldier; but you see it came about." "Believe me, Madam," Monsieur Dessin said deferentially, "it is good that your son should be a master of fence.

Not only may he at court be forced into quarrels, in which it will be necessary for him to defend his honour, but in all ways it benefits him.

Look at his figure; nature has given him health and strength, but fencing has given him that light, active carriage, the arm of steel, and a bearing which at his age is remarkable.