The Amaranth Guide to Dueling

I suppose that I should have realised that something was afoot when Mark stormed into the Great Hall, pulled one of Great Uncle Otto's (silver medallist, Antwerp 1920) duelling sabres out of its display, and stormed back out again. Ah, the impetuosity of youth. It brought back memories enough to make an Empress blush...

Of course, being a civilised country, Amaranth banned dueling some years ago, although there is still the odd incidence of individuals being rushed to hospital having sustained rather severe shaving cuts. Curiously, the history of Amaranth was shaped by two duels in particular, the first in 1863 when the Papal Nuncio was caught in an indelicate position with Crown Prince Klaus, whereupon the Dowager Empress sought satisfaction at swordpoint. Despite sustaining a quite serious wound to her forearm, she dispatched her opponent, leading to a breakdown of the Vatican-led coalition and the inevitable formation of the new Italian state.

The 1911 'Lugano Incident', where Ludwig's grandfather upheld the honour of Amaranth after an accusation of sharp practice during negotiations over the future of Albania, led to the withdrawal of Amaranth forces from the battle order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. Who knows what might have happened at Vittorio Veneto had Amaranth cavalry been there to repulse the first wave of Italian attacks?

It is clear that dueling can be quite influential in changing the course of human affairs. Accordingly, there follows the Empress Jessica guide to duelling. You'll thank me one day...

Once upon a time, it was impossible to be a gentleman if one did not possess a set of dueling pistols. Admittedly, what this meant was that there were disproportionately low levels of life expectancy amongst gentlemen, but given the prevalence of war and disease, and the tradition whereby officers led their men into battle, it was probably seen as character building. On the positive side, dueling with pistols tended to be fairly quick - one shot apiece tended to suffice. Unfortunately, accuracy with a pistol tended to be fatal and even if you intended to miss, or wound, you could kill an opponent with a misfire.

Generally speaking, if neither party hit their opponent and the challenger was satisfied that his honour had been upheld, a duel could be declared to be over. However, there was nothing to prevent further shots from being fired, although anything more than three was considered barbaric. My cousin Jaime tells a story of two Latin American generals who, in the course of their duel, emptied the magazines of two automatic pistols at each other without drawing blood.

Prior to the development of pistols, swords were the obvious weapon of choice, and duels would continue until blood was drawn. This tended to ensure that fatalities were limited, although they were not unknown. The offended party could choose the point at which a duel would be brought to a halt in advance (the drawing of blood, the wounding of an adversary sufficient to make them unable to continue, death) and seconds would attend in order to ensure fair play.

I tend to see Mark as a 'pistols at dusk' sort of duellist - he isn't a morning person. So I did the decent thing, and asked Rupert to take the sabre from him and lend him Ludwig's Caron dueling pistols (rather lovely, cherrywood case), before giving him a short course on dueling strategy. Shots to the head look dramatic, but the Carons tend to pull to the left, so aimimg at the body will at least discourage an opponent from firing back with accuracy. Allowing your opponent the first shot is only advisable if you are a) the party accused of giving offence, and b) a formula has been agreed whereby blood will not be spilt and honour is maintained by both parties.

In the end, of course, the Carons remained unused. But there was a steely glint in his eye as he retired to the study...