Dagger and Sword by Rafael Sabatini

WHEN two men chance to love the same woman, they seldom love each other. Don Rafael de Molina and I, however, contented ourselves with scorn--all the more bitter on my part, since I was the less favored suitor; all the more lofty and disdainful on his, since his wooing prospered passing well.

There were dark rumors abroad concerning the presence in Paris of this sleek and courtly Spaniard. 'Twas said on every hand, when he was not by--for he wielded a tolerable rapier--that he was a ruffler of the court of Spain, who, having fallen upon evil days, had pocketed his pride and taken secret service of a not overhonorable character under Anne of Austria.