The Sensory Animals of Ston Hill

duel.The Earl of Arundel was surprised that the word would come out of William Ston.

William Ston is not one of those patriarchs whose everyday life lacks excitement.He's been on the battlefield, he's seen a human limb detach from a torso, and he knows the tragic consequences of a small wound.

The count hadn't really seen him before, but he knew that the young man in front of him was not an idiot.

So the Earl decided that William Ston was bluffing just to humiliate him; and he had to return this humiliation back.

"Okay. If you agree to use a pistol, I hope to solve the problem within ten steps and shoot three times." The count said straightforwardly.He intentionally put forward the most demanding request, asking William Ston to retreat by himself.

As a rule, the two parties to the duel argued endlessly over all sorts of details: one wanted the gun, the other the sword; one demanded ten paces, the other insisted on twenty; Afternoon—In short, it is always difficult for the two sides to reach an agreement, and the duel will be canceled in the end.

But William Ston said: "You are welcome." He had only one request, that is, two people should participate in it themselves, and the servants could not do it for them.

He turned to look at his brother.His right hand was still held tightly and felt wet.Allen stared at him nervously, breathing heavily.

William immediately changed his mind, saying to the Earl of Arundel: "I will choose an lieutenant to be my second." If he falls early, his second will succeed him to finish the duel.

"William!" Allen finally couldn't help shouting.

The Earl of Arundel subconsciously looked at his most loyal servant.

Mr. Wales received his gaze, and immediately said loudly: "The law no longer allows duels!"

Neither of them realizes that the word "law" has an uncanny comic effect when uttered from the lips of people like them who see criminal conspiracy as trifling.But what Mr. Welsh said really worked, and people all looked to the person above the law, waiting for him to make a decision.

Grace, who was standing with the king, finally found her voice, and asked His Majesty blankly, "What are they talking about?"

He had often heard that word spoken by the footmen in the backyard.It's easy for men to get pissed off over little things, then take off their shirts to dry out and roll in the dirt.

But obviously William and the others were not talking about this kind of duel.

He looked beggingly at King Louis.But the king pretended not to see his eyes, and announced with a smile: "The law should not prohibit a gentleman from maintaining his dignity!"

So the whole theater moved from indoors to outdoors, the audience surrounded the surroundings, the protagonists changed from "forest elf" to two men who were about to take risks for dignity, and a large piece of tulip became the background of the stage.

Mr. Wales put on a crown embroidered with exquisite patterns for the Earl, while Alan Ston took off his black coat, replaced William Ston's military coat, and tied a scarf on him.

William Ston's adjutant and Mr. Welsh each held a sword, and together they drew a line on the ground with the tip of the sword.

The two men preparing for the duel each checked their pistols.

The Earl of Arundel had also been in battle, but that was ten years ago.But his marksmanship has always been good, at least he doesn't disappoint himself when hunting.And he knew that a soldier like William Ston, who was accustomed to using a rifle, would find it difficult to pick up a pistol.

William Ston was indeed getting used to the pistol. He raised the gun towards the distance, took aim for a while, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"Alan Stone immediately applauded loudly: "He hit that tree!"

People looked at the smoking tree trunk in the distance, and let out a cry of surprise.

Mr. Wales looked at Earl Arundel pleadingly, hoping that his master would admit defeat.

But not possible.

As far as the earl was concerned, if he refused to duel, he would be completely discredited and his political career could also be declared over.

His Majesty the King is rightfully the arbiter.Standing at the top of the steps in front of the door, he announced loudly: "Please take ten steps each."

William Ston and the Earl of Arundel stood facing each other on both sides of the line, turned around at the same time, and stepped forward with their backs to each other.

There was tittering in the audience: despite the Earl's best efforts to appear natural, his one step was almost as long as William Ston's two.

After ten steps, William Ston turned around first, followed by the Earl of Arundel.

His Majesty declares that what they are doing so far is in accordance with the pre-agreed rules.

Grace watched King Louis' movements in a trance, saw him stretch out his arms, rotate his wrists, and draw a few circles smoothly in front of him, "Then, please get ready, our gentlemen, everyone, please keep your eyes open— —”

He'd seen this before, at Jerry the Peddler.In order to sell more goods, Jerry the peddler often performs magic tricks for the bored servants in the villa.

Once Grace was silly and gave him her favorite hair tie as a prop.Jerry tucked his headband under his hat, then stretched out his arms, swiveled his wrists, and swished a few circles in front of him. "So, ladies and gentlemen, please keep your eyes open—"

Grace's eyes widened as she saw him jerk off the hat—there was nothing underneath.His headband is gone.

His Majesty took out a handkerchief from his pocket and threw it into the sky, "One, two—"

William Ston and the Earl of Arundel stretched their arms forward, pointing their guns at each other.

People were staring intently at the field, when suddenly a bright figure rushed down from the steps, shouting: "Stop!" Flower petals floated up behind him, and slowly fell down together with the handkerchief thrown by His Majesty.

Grace rushed into William Ston's arms, turned around and opened her arms towards Earl of Arundel, trying to protect the tall William Ston, and shouted hysterically: "Stop! Stop!"

This has never been the case!People looked excitedly at each other and at His Majesty the King, and the small fans in the ladies' hands were fanning like tops.

King Louis stared at the two sticking together and stopped counting.

Grace turned and pushed William, trying to push him as far away from the Earl of Arundel as possible.

Pushed by him, William Ston staggered a small step back and had to hold his waist to stop his movement. His lips squirmed out his name: "Grace..."

Grace paused for a moment, then looked up at William.He hadn't seen him in over 700 days, and looking so close, he could see every emotion in those blue eyes.He could see that William was in pain.

"Don't duel!" He pushed again.But apart from the first moment, William couldn't move a half step after that.

He put his hands on William's hard chest like pushing a wall, bowed his head, exhausted all his strength, and let out a helpless whimper in his throat.

"Please, please..." Grace cried.

William Ston held his waist, clenched his teeth, and suddenly yelled at Alan Ston, who was standing still not far away: "Take her away!"

Alan Stone hesitated for a moment before running towards them.

William gritted his teeth and pushed Grace into Allen's arms cruelly.

Allen hugged Grace tightly, holding his two arms tightly to his side.Grace struggled desperately in his arms, and her feet were lifted off the ground by him.

He kicked his legs hard and asked him sharply, "Why didn't you stop him!"

Allen endured his heel hitting his calf, and warned sternly in his ear at a volume that only the two of them could hear: "Are you going to let everyone see it? You want to discredit both of you? !"

Grace stopped struggling.Alan Ston dragged him away from William, and at the same time said loudly: "William will be fine! General Wilker said that William is the most accurate marksman he has ever seen!"

His Majesty's eyes kept falling on Grace, and Grace's eyes kept falling on William Ston.

He was dragged to the sidelines by Alan Stone, and his body limply fell to the ground along Alan Stone's legs.He knelt down, facing the direction of William Ston, and kept making the sign of the cross in front of him.He clenched his hands in front of his chest, his lips opened and closed quickly, the wreath on his head had fallen off, the braids of his hair were loose, and almost all the petals on the hem of the skirt had fallen off and scattered around his body.He prayed so devoutly that his face was full of tears.

His Majesty bent down to pick up the square silk handkerchief, and started counting again: "One, two—"

At this moment, the Earl of Arundel suddenly changed his mind, raised his arms above his head, and pointed the muzzle of the gun towards the sky.

This means disdain to duel with the opponent.If the other party insists on hurting people again, it will be considered too barbaric, making this duel lose the role of protecting reputation.

But William Ston never changed his posture, and his muzzle was always pointing towards Earl of Arundel's head.

"--three!"

The gunshots rang out almost at the same time, several shots in a row, and then stopped in an instant.

The Earl of Arundel's muzzle facing the sky was smoking, and the top of his head was empty, and the hat that symbolized his noble status fell behind him and was blown to one side by the wind.

After a while, His Majesty the King remembered to perform his duties after being reminded by the guards: "Please ask the two deputies to check the number of bullets!"

William Ston's adjutant inspected the Earl of Arundel's gun and announced loudly, "The Earl's three shots have been fired!"

Mr. Wells announced with an ugly face: "Colonel Ston has two shots to go..."

His Majesty took a wrong step to the side, hid most of his body behind the guards, and asked William: "Is the colonel going to finish the bullet?"

"Bang! Bang!" Two more shots.

The hat was hit one after another, rolled backwards, and finally stopped, lying on the ground.The embroidery made of gold and silver thread was stained by gunpowder, and there were three black bullet holes on it, emitting black smoke and curling into the air.

His Majesty declares the duel to be perfect.There was warm applause from the crowd, in praise of the bravery and grace shown by the two men in the duel.The Earl of Arundel and William Ston returned to the line and shook hands expressionlessly.

"Is it over?" Grace raised her head and asked Alan Stone, her voice full of fear.

"It's over! William won!" Allen bent down and whispered, his tone very excited.He pulled Grace's arm to help him up from the ground, but Grace's whole body was limp, so he had to put his hands under his armpits and lift him up.

William came toward them, the pistol still in his hand.He's holding the muzzle, the butt sticking out, looking at Grace.

Grace suddenly gained strength and ran over.

Alan Stone had never seen anyone run so fast in a skirt.The skirt was stretched backward by the wind, holding Grace up like a cloud, and flying away with him in a blink of an eye.

William Ston subconsciously stretched out the hand that wasn't holding the gun. This time, he hugged Grace into his arms.

Grace looked up at him eagerly, and William held the gun up to his eyes: "Hold it, Grace."

Grace reached out to hold the wooden butt, warmer than expected.In his opinion, this is the temperature of William's palm left on it.

William supported his waist to correct his stance, let him face the tree, held his hand and raised the gun, "thumb forward, wrist hard, eyes look over here, stare at your enemy... "The onlookers quickly retreated, leaving a large open space in front of them.

Grace looked along the top edge of the gun and saw the tree trunk. From such a distance, he couldn't tell where William's previous bullet hit, he only remembered that it was on the middle line of the tree trunk.

His back was pressed against William's chest, and he remembered that he was in his arms like this when he was a child, and his right hand holding the quill was held warmly by him.

At that time, William’s voice was the same as it is now, rang in his ears gently and patiently: “The tip of the quill pen is very thin, and you can’t use as much force as you write on the ground with a wooden stick…”

"Pull here, and pull the trigger again to make the flint strike a spark and ignite the gunpowder. You have to keep your arm steady and keep your hand from shaking when you shoot... If you're ready, pull the trigger—"

"Bang!" Hit.

Grace looked up and saw the blue sky with light white clouds floating above their heads, and the pair of eyes that were bluer than the sky.

For a long time thereafter, Grace's real surname and his relationship with William Ston were eagerly discussed.But people never dared to humiliate him to his face, nor to show disrespect too clearly in his presence.If they couldn't hold back and wanted to talk about "her" flat breasts and no panniers, they only dared to secretly laugh behind their backs.

Because people believed that the duel between William Ston and the Earl of Arundel was to protect Grace's reputation.

In those rumors, William Ston became a knight—not the gentlemen who claim to have inherited chivalry, smoking pipes and carrying civilized sticks.He is a real knight, wearing modern clothes like armor, holding a pistol like a sword; he came from the glory of the Middle Ages, and God's blessing can truly come to him.He is as dignified and elegant as a gentleman, but more courageous and loyal than ordinary gentlemen.He believes in justice, values ​​commitment, intends to protect the weak, and cares about women and children.

If someone is placed in the most important position in his heart, he will do whatever it takes to maintain the other person's happiness, even at the expense of his life.

----

----

----

Rules about dueling:

*Duel: After entering the nineteenth century, many countries have introduced laws to prohibit duels, but they are generally not taken seriously.Inflicting death or injury in a duel is much less punishable than inflicting death or injury in other circumstances.The offending party may have to pay a small fine or spend a few days in jail.This punishment is not disgraceful, but it is very disgraceful to be unvaliant in a duel, for the purpose of a duel is to preserve honor.

In the past, there was a special dueling method, which stipulated the rules of dueling, and there were slight differences in each region.

### What is special here is that the servants can do it for them.So William cut off the earl's retreat first. #

*Weapons: In the early days, dueling swords were usually used, and dueling pistols were often used after the 18th century, or other weapons are acceptable, as long as the two parties agree, and the respective deputy checks that the weapons are roughly equivalent.In the case of a pistol duel, the number of steps to take is also agreed upon by both parties, and an agreement can be reached.

Place: Both parties choose a "glory place" where no one will be disturbed. The purpose is to avoid disturbance.

### Our Majesty likes to make it more lively, and William also intends to make it bigger, to scare the chickens and monkeys, so... Grace interrupted me halfway. #

*The method of terminating the duel is chosen by the challenger:

- the duel is terminated as soon as one of the parties is wounded - even a minor one;

- When one party is seriously injured and cannot continue the duel, the duel is terminated;

- The duel ends when one party is fatally wounded;

——In a pistol duel, both sides shoot at each other.If both miss and the challenger considers him "satisfied," the duel is terminated; otherwise shots are fired repeatedly until one is wounded or killed.But the number of shots should not exceed three times, otherwise it will be considered too "barbaric".This situation is rare.

### The Earl of Arundel wanted William to back off, so he chose to shoot three shots first, but it was in William's arms. #

*In a pistol duel, the duelist can intentionally miss to express "disdain to duel with him".

### This is the Earl's urgent decision to take a risk. He bet that William valued the meaning of this duel more than venting his anger - protecting Grace. #

*When the duelist is unable to continue, the second hand can sometimes take the place - this is usually the case in duels that require high swordsmanship.

### The setting here is that the pistol duel can be done by the deputy, because William wanted the earl dead from the beginning.A lieutenant is usually the most trusted friend or servant, and William at first naturally thought of making Alan his second, but changed his mind temporarily. #

*In a pistol duel, both sides hold loaded pistols, stand with their backs facing each other, walk forward for a certain number of steps, and finally turn around and shoot.In general, the more severe the insult, the fewer steps are taken.Alternatively, the second hand marks the turning point on the ground with a sword in advance.Generally, the two sides can fire after giving a signal (such as throwing a handkerchief) to reduce the possibility of cheating.Another way is that the two sides take turns shooting, the challenged first.

*Duels are often canceled due to the inability to agree on the dueling method.