title: Fencing: The Modern International Style
author: Istvan Lukovich
description: Istvan Lukovich has been one of Hungary's leading national coaches and head of the Hungarian national coaching academy.
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  Prologue
  
  
  
  
  
  France, 1893
  
  
  
  
  
  “Are you ready for your adventure, Mademoiselle?”
  
  
  Eleanor Craven nodded at her gentleman escort, delighted by his question.
  “Indeed I am.”
  
  
  Monsieur Redon, her fencing master – and her illicit companion for the evening
  – put his hand under her elbow and ushered her along the moonlit lane to the
  spot where the carriage would collect them. Eleanor trembled with excitement.
  They were about to escape the school grounds for the evening. In but an hour
  they would be in their seats for the Russian ballet.
  
  
  Organizing the forbidden outing had been no small feat. First, Eleanor wagered
  the fencing instructor she could beat him in a fencing match. The nature of
  his forfeit had been kept a secret until she’d won. To have been beaten by a
  protégée was difficult enough for him. When she revealed the dangerous nature
  of his forfeit he’d told her he had doubts about her sanity – which amused
  Eleanor