# X: Torn Pride explained — Scaramouche

> Chapter companion for Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini.

## What happens

The Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr visits M. de Kercadiou at Meudon, hoping to win Aline de Kercadiou. He is torn between his pride and his growing obsession with Aline, while also grappling with the impending duel with André-Louis Moreau, whom he sees as the evil genius of his life. Aline pleads with him to call off the duel, but he refuses, citing honor and justice. The chapter explores his bitterness, jealousy, and the realization that André-Louis may have the last word regardless of the duel's outcome.

## Themes in this chapter

### Pride and Honor

The Marquis's pride and sense of honor compel him to proceed with the duel despite Aline's pleas, even as he realizes its futility.

### Love and Manipulation

The Marquis's love for Aline is intertwined with jealousy and manipulation; Aline attempts to manipulate him through appeals to honor and pity.

### Fate and Free Will

The Marquis feels a fatalistic connection to André-Louis, seeing him as a Nemesis; he oscillates between confidence and despair about the duel's outcome.

## Character check-ins

### Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr

Visits Meudon to see Aline; torn between pride and love; reflects on André-Louis as his nemesis; refuses to call off the duel despite Aline's pleas.

### Aline de Kercadiou

Pleads with the Marquis to spare André-Louis; reveals her close bond with André-Louis, calling him almost a brother; angered by the Marquis's jealous question.

### M. de Kercadiou

Distressed by the impending duel; groans in despair; believes André-Louis will be killed.

### André-Louis Moreau

Referenced as the object of the Marquis's hatred and jealousy; seen as the evil genius of the Marquis's life; Aline pleads for his life.

### La Binet

Mentioned as the Marquis's former mistress; the Marquis broke with her to pursue Aline, but she has since vanished.

## Key lines

> He saw now that do what he would, kill him even though he might, he could never conquer him. The last word would always be with André-Louis Moreau.

The Marquis realizes that no matter what he does, even if he kills André-Louis, he will never truly defeat him; André-Louis will always have the final say.

_Highlights the Marquis's sense of futility and André-Louis's symbolic power over him._

> The cruelest wound that in all his selfish life he had taken was when she sent him word, quite definitely after the affair at the Feydau, that she could not again in any circumstances receive him.

The most painful blow the Marquis ever received was Aline's rejection after the Feydau incident, which ended his hopes of marrying her.

_Reveals the depth of the Marquis's emotional investment in Aline and his sense of loss._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scaramouche_se/chapters/x-torn-pride
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scaramouche_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/scaramouche_se/chapters