The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte Read Free Book Online Page B

eloquence, the deployment of the subtle tricks peculiar to the fair sex, an appeal to certain feelings ... Nothing would move him, he promised himself. Had he been twenty years younger, he might have been won over by the woman's undoubted powers of fascination. But he was too old for such things to change his mind. The feelings that her proximity stirred in him might be momentarily troubling, but they were controllable. Don Jaime would politely refuse, unmoved by this childish female caprice of hers. He was entirely unprepared for the question that came next:
    "How would you respond, Don Jaime, if, during a bout, your opponent made a doublé attack in tierce?"
    The fencing master thought he must have misheard. He began to ask her to repeat what she had said but stopped halfway, confused. He drew a hand across his forehead, then placed both hands on his knees and sat looking at Señora de Otero as if demanding an explanation. This was ridiculous.
    "I'm sorry?"
    She was watching him, amused, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She spoke with disconcerting firmness. "I would like your expert opinion, Don Jaime."
    He sighed, shifting about on his footstool. All this was devilishly unusual. "You're really interested?"
    "Of course."
    Don Jaime raised one hand to his mouth and gave an embarrassed cough. "Well, I don't know how far ... I mean of course, if you find the subject ... A doublé attack in tierce, you said?" After all it was just a question, albeit a strange one coming from her. Or perhaps not so strange. "Well, I suppose that if my opponent attacked in tierce, I would parry and then respond with a half thrust. Do you understand? It's fairly elementary."

    "And if he responded to your half thrust by parrying and disengaging immediately m quarte?"
    He looked at the young woman, this time with amazement. She had given the correct sequence.
    "In that case," he said, "I would parry in quarte, and attack immediately in quarte." This time he omitted the "do you understand?" It was obvious that Señora de Otero did understand. "That is the only possible response."
    She threw her head back in unexpected gaiety, almost as if to laugh out loud, but instead she merely smiled. "Do you want to disappoint me, Don Jaime? Or are you trying to catch me out? You know perfectly well that that is far from being the only possible response. It may not even be the best one."
    His discomfiture was obvious. He could never have imagined having such a conversation. Something told him that he was entering unfamiliar country, yet at the same time his professional curiosity drove him irresistibly on. He decided to lower his guard slightly—just enough to follow the game and to see where it was all leading.
    "Would you care to suggest some alternative, dear lady?" he asked, just skeptically enough not to be rude. The young woman nodded, almost vehemently, and in her eyes there was a glint of excitement that gave Don Jaime much food for thought.
    "I can suggest at least two," she replied with a conviction entirely lacking in conceit. "You could parry in quarte, but cut over the enemy's blade and then thrust in quarte over his arm. Does that seem correct to you?"

    Don Jaime had to acknowledge that this was not only correct, it was brilliant. "But you mentioned another option," he said.
    "I did." While Señora de Otero was speaking, she moved her right hand as if reproducing the movements of the foil. "Parry in quarte and respond with a flanconnade. I'm sure you'll agree that any blow is always much faster and more effective if performed in the same line as the parry. Both should form a single movement."
    "The flanconnade is not an easy move," said Don Jaime, now genuinely interested. "Where did you learn it?"
    "In Italy."
    "Who was your teacher?"
    "His name is irrelevant." The young woman smiled to soften her refusal to answer his question. "Let's just say that he was considered among the best in Europe. He taught me the nine thrusts, their various