Meantime, for want of other employment, I have taken to acting, and have made a little money thereby--part of which I shall send to you, as soon as I can find a good opportunity.

It would have been better perhaps if I had enlisted as a soldier; but I could not give up my liberty, and however poverty-stricken a man may be, his pride revolts at the idea of putting himself under the orders of those whom his noble ancestors used to command.

The only adventure worth relating that has befallen me since I left you was a duel that I fought at Poitiers, with a certain young duke, who is held to be invincible; but, thanks to your good instructions, I was able to get the better of him easily.

I ran him through the right arm, and could just as well have run him through the body, and left him dead upon the field, for his defence was weak and insufficient--by no means equal to his attack, which was daring and brilliant, though very reckless--and several times he was entirely at my mercy, as he grew heated and angry.

He has not been so thoroughly trained to preserve his sang-froid, whatever may happen, as I, and I now appreciate, for the first time, your wonderful patience and perseverance in making me a master of the noble art of fencing, and how valuable my proficiency in it will be to me.