'Did you not have to fight at all?'
'Only three times. Then not seriously.'
'But was that all you had to fight to take such a city?'
'Daughter, we fought twelve times from Ranbouillet to enter the city. But only two of them were worth describing as fights. Those at Toussus le Noble and at Le Buc. The rest was the necessary garnishing of a dish. I really did not need to fight at all except at those two places.'
'Tell me some true things about fighting.'
'Tell me you love me.'
'I love you,' the girl said. 'You can publish it in the Gazzettina if you like. I love your hard, flat body and your strange eyes that frighten me when they become wicked. I love your hand and all your other wounded places.'
'I better try to tell you something pretty good,' the Colonel said. 'First I can tell yo
