Louise de la Vallière Chapter 13 - The Combat

In which two gentlemen, bound by a grave quarrel and armed with loaded pistols beneath a stormy night, agree upon a perilous duel amidst the shadowed glades of Rochin, adhering to a code both exacting and fraught with the tension of honour and suspicion. The combat unfolds with startling swiftness and skill, weaving through moments of danger and distrust, until a grievous wound tempers the violence and summons testimony to fidelity and fairness in the midst of mortal peril.