The Duellists (Dir. Ridley Scott, 1977) | Interview with actor Keith Car...
Surely you will not turn down
the opportunity of a brigade.
The Emperor is Our Hope and Strength.
We belong to him.
D'Hubert :
I have entertained the notion that...
I may belong to myself.
It has been said that you
Do Not Love The Emperor.
D'Hubert :
By whom?
By General Feraud.
He knows you well, I believe.
D'Hubert :
General Feraud has made
occasional attempts to kill me.
That does not give him the right
to claim my acquaintance.
And it is also said that he fought you...
in defence of The Emperor's Honour.
D'Hubert :
That is impertinent trash!
You have My Answer to Marshall Grouchy.
I shall write to confirm it at once. Good Day.
Colonel, do you sometimes
meet with General Feraud?
Now and again.
D'Hubert :
Ask him what The Honor of The Emperor
has to do with Madame de Lionne?
Madame de Lionne?
D'Hubert :
I think that was The Lady's name.
He should remember better than I.
*****
Feraud :
Damn his impudence.
That was The Lady's name, sir.
Feraud :
Madame de Lionne. Yes.
Get your backside off that table.
Fine woman. A cultivated woman.
She had nothing to do with The Emperor.
I do not believe that The General
was suggesting an ilIicit acquaintance
between The Emperor and this woman.
Feraud :
Then what was he suggesting?
What? Out with it.
Sir, I took him rather to imply that this lady...
not The Emperor, was the prime cause
of your quarrel.
Feraud :
I have called him out near
to half a dozen times.
The Cavalry knows. Would I have
done that for some petty nonsense?
She was a lady I held in high esteem.
Her salon was very well known in...
Strasbourg.
Yes, now I recall something else.
He said to me in a public street--
I have it burnt in my mind.
He said to me...
"For all that I care, They can
spit upon Napoleon Bonaparte."
Who were 'They'?
Feraud :
They, They!
When did The Emperor
not have enemies?
D'Hubert is a turncoat!
That is a fact!
I say more. I say he never loved
The Emperor! Never!
He saw a fair deal of campaigning....
Feraud :
When you meet him again, tell him
I will prove The Truth of it
at the first opportunity.
To The Emperor -- Good Luck to him
and to those that love him.
But in less than 100 days,
Napoleon was defeated,
And I offer you another toast.
Let us give thanks for the safe return...
of His Sacred Majesty, Louis XVIII.
God Save The King.
And Devil take The Ogre...
to St. Helena.
This side of The Grave, it seems
a fit and proper place for him.
Come, sir --
You're A Royalist now...
Like the rest of us.
Where else would
you wish him to be?
One celebration at a time, sir.
Don't you think?
No, I Do Not.
The Boy's A Royalist.
And I can give you more good news.
He has been summoned to attend
upon Marshall St. Cyr in Paris.
He will have a command
in The King's Army.
So Tell Us :
What Fate would
you choose
for The Ogre?
D'Hubert :
I believe The Emperor
chose His Own Fate :
It was his habit to do so.
I learned My Trade in His Service,
as did MarshaIl St. Cyr.
The King's Army will have
more Realists than Royalists.
I have just agreed to terms
with this lady...
and I'm much too tired
for further questioning.
Well done.
Good Day, Colonel.
D'Hubert, isn't it?
D'Hubert :
That's right.
You took care to play safe, eh?
Very spruce you look too.
Very tame and spruce.
Found a nice place with His Majesty, have you?
Now, Gabriel Feraud was right.
Poor devil. He always said
you were a slippery fellow.
D'Hubert :
How is General Feraud?
You don't know?
D'Hubert :
It interests me very little.
In fact, I do not know.
Feraud was arrested.
They have him on
The Butcher's list.
D'Hubert :
He's to go before
The Commission?
Yes. Now, there was a man
who would ride straight at anything.
He ends up at the mercy
of that sewer rat. Fouche.
He's as good as dead.
Joseph Fouche :
Come a little closer, please.
I'm all attention.
D'Hubert :
I believe Your Excellency
has chosen a list of officers...
to be tried for Treason
by the special court.
Joseph Fouche :
I... am The President
of The Commission
that chose them, yes.
D'Hubert :
I've come to petition that the name
of General Gabriel Feraud
be removed from that list.
I have letters of introduction --
Marshalls St. Cyr and MacDonald.
Joseph Fouche :
Have you indeed?
By all accounts, he is a
rabid Bonapartist.
D'Hubert :
So is every Trooper and
Grenadier in The Army...
as Your Excellency knows.
General Feraud hasn't the brains
to make himself dangerous to anyone.
Rather, he could not conceivably
Hurt The State.
Joseph Fouche :
He has a busy tongue.
He talked himself on to our list.
we could not keep him off it.
I am something of
A Virtuoso in Survival.
You will be aware
of that, I think.
Besides, I despise these nobodies...
who offer their neck to The Block.
At least this is in My Control,
because if it were not...
My Own Name would
most certainly be on it.
Our New Masters
and Their Ladies,
bless them, are out for
a Deal of Blood.
Please be seated.
You have an honest
Soldier's Face, General...
but you have come here
to intrigue with me.
Is that not so?
Have you not come here
to intrigue with me?
Is this fellow a relation of yours?
D'Hubert :
No.
Joseph Fouche :
Intimate friend?
D'Hubert :
No, not exactIy.
We've had a...
long association.
Joseph Fouche :
Mysterious. Still, you have
two marshals at your back.
Yes, there's your man.
Feraud, Gabriel Florian.
He will live in the provinces
under police supervision.
You realise that, of course --
But he will live.
Take a pen, my dear fellow,
and cross out The Name.
I can't do everything for you.
D'Hubert :
Your Excellency, I must beg you
to keep my interference a secret.
Most particularly from
General Feraud.
Joseph Fouche :
General Feraud, Alive or Dead,
is not worth a moment's gossip.
