Quotation from: A Set of Six

Written by: Joseph Conrad

He had been sitting quietly in his own privileged corner looking through
the Paris gazettes with just as much interest as a condemned man on the
eve of execution could be expected to show in the news of the day. "I'll
find out presently that I am alive yet," he declared, in a dogmatic
tone. "However, this is a private affair. An old affair of honour. Bah!
Our honour does not matter. Here we are driven off with a split ear like
a lot of cast troop horses--good only for a knacker's yard. But it
would be like striking a blow for the Emperor. . . . Messieurs, I shall
require the assistance of two of you."