Universe Twister - Keith Laumer [26]
Nicodaeus was at Lafayette's side. "Ah, Count Alain," he said smoothly. "May I suggest—"
"You may not!" Alain's eyes found O'Leary's. "I'll await you in the courtyard." He bobbed his head to the princess, turned on his heel and pushed his way through the gaping circle of onlookers who at once streamed away in his wake.
"All this excitement about a fencing lesson," O'Leary said. "These people are real sports fans."
"Sir Lafayette," Adoranne said breathlessly, "you need not heed the count's ill-natured outburst. I'll command that he beg your forgiveness."
"Oh, it's all right. The fresh air will do me good. I'm feeling those cognacs a little, I'm afraid."
"Lafayette, how cool you are in the face of danger. Here." She took a lacy handkerchief from somewhere and pressed it in Lafayette's hand. "Wear this and please, deal generously with him." Then she was gone.
"Adoranne—" O'Leary began. A hand took his arm.
"Lafayette," Nicodaeus said at his ear. "Do you know what you're doing? Alain is the top swordsman in the Guards Regiment."
"I'm just giving him a few tips on saber technique. He—"
"Tips? The man's a master fencer! He'll have his point under your ribs before you can say Sam Katzman!"
"Nonsense. It's all just good clean fun."
"Fun? The man is furious!"
Lafayette looked thoughtful. "Do you really think he's mad?"
"Just this side of frothing at the mouth," Nicodaeus assured him. "He's been number one with Adoranne for some time now—until you came along and cut him out of the pattern."
"Jealous, eh? Poor fellow, if he only knew . . ."
"Only knew what?" Nicodaeus asked sharply.
"Nothing." He slapped Nicodaeus heartily on the back. "Now let's go out and see what he can do."
Chapter V
The courtyard was a grim rectangle of granite walled in by the looming rear elevations of the servant's residential wings of the palace, gleaming coldly in the light of a crescent moon. The chill in the air had sharpened; it was close to freezing now. Lafayette looked around at the crowd that had gathered to watch the fencing lesson. They formed a ring three or four deep around the circumference of the impromptu arena, bundled in cloaks, stamping their feet and conversing in low, excited mutters. The wagers being made, O'Leary noted, were two to one in favor of the opposition.
"I'll take your coat," Nicodaeus said briskly. O'Leary pulled it off, shivered as a blast of frigid wind flapped his shirt against his back. Twenty feet away, Count Alain, looking bigger than ever in shirt sleeves, chatted casually with two elegant-looking seconds, who glanced his way once, nodded coldly, and thereafter ignored him.
"Ah, I see the surgeon is on hand." Nicodaeus pointed out a portly man in a long gray cloak. "Not that there'll be much he can do. Count Alain always goes for the heart."
The count had accepted his blade from one of his aides now; he flexed it, tested its point with a finger and made a series of cuts at the air.
"I'd better warm up, too," O'Leary drew his rapier from its scabbard, finding it necessary to use both hands to get the point clear. "It's kind of long, isn't it?" he said. He waved the weapon, took up a stance.
"I hope your practice has been against skilled partners," Nicodaeus said.
"Oh, I just practice by myself." O'Leary tried a lunge, went a little too far, had to hop twice to get his balance.
"This thing's heavy," he commented, lowering the tip to the ground. "I'm used to a lighter weapon."
"Be grateful for its weight; Count Alain has a superb sword arm. He'll beat a light blade aside like a wooden lath."
"Hey," Lafayette said, nudging the magician. "Look over there, in the black cloak. That looks like—"
"It is," Nicodaeus said. "Don't stare. The cloak is accepted by all present as an effective disguise. It wouldn't do for a lady of her rank to witness an affair of this sort."
Lafayette fumbled out Adoranne's hanky, fluttered it at her and tucked it in his shirt pocket.