“Yes, my dear Monsieur Pierre, I owe you a fine votive candle for saving me from that maniac.⁠ ⁠… You see, I have bullets enough in my body already. Here is one I got at Wagram” (he touched his side) “and a second at Smolénsk”⁠—he showed a scar on his cheek⁠—“and this leg which as you see does not want to march, I got that on the seventh at the great battle of la Moskowa . Sacré Dieu! It was splendid! That deluge of fire was worth seeing. It was a tough job you set us there, my word! You may be proud of it! And on my honor, in spite of the cough I caught there, I should be ready to begin again. I pity those who did not see it.”

“I was there,” said Pierre.