Evremond, who at this time was exiled in
France, and took refuge in England.
This celebrated and accomplished man had some points of resemblance with
De Grammont. Like him, he had been originally intended for the church;
like him he had turned to the military profession; he was an ensign
before he was full sixteen; and had a company of foot given him after
serving two or three campaigns. Like De Grammont, he owed the facilities
of his early career to his being the descendant of an ancient and
honourable family. St. Evremond was the Seigneur of St Denis le Guast,
in Normandy, where he was born.
Both these sparkling wits of society had at one time, and, in fact, at
the same period, served under the great Conde; both were pre-eminent,
not only in literature, but in games of chance. St. Evremond was famous
at the University of Caen, in which he studied, for his fencing; and
'St. Evremond's pass' was well known to swordsmen of his time;--both
were gay and satirical; neither of them pretended to rigid morals; but
both were accounted men of honour among their fellow-men of pleasure.
They were graceful, kind, generous.
In person St. Evremond had the advantage, being a Norman--a race which
combines the handsomest traits of an English countenance with its blond
hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.
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