See here, my lord duke! just look what he did to my precious, priceless Sahagun." And Jacquemin Lampourde, with a piteous air, drew out and exhibited the sorry remains of his trusty sword--almost weeping over it--and calling the duke's attention to the perfectly straight and even break.
"Your highness can see that it was a prodigious blow that snapped this steel like a pipe-stem, and it was done with such ease and precision.
To despatch Captain Fracasse by fair means is beyond my skill, my lord duke, and I would scorn to resort to treachery.

Like all truly brave men, he is generous.

I was left entirely defenceless, and he could have spitted me like an ortolan just by extending his arm, but he refrained; he let me go unscathed.

A miraculous display of delicacy, as well as chivalrous generosity, from a gentleman assaulted in the gloaming on the Pont-Neuf.

I owe my life to him, and moreover, such a debt of gratitude as I shall never be able to repay.