So potent a complexion

[Johnyxxx]

Hello,


I have problem to understand some parts of the paragraph below; can anybody help me?


"Come," said Frédéric, "I will present you to him." "Monseigneur," he said, as Roderic stood before him, ready to make his little bow, "let me present Monsieur Mason, an Englishman."
The old fellow took little notice. Said Frédéric in his ear: "Monsieur lives on the boulevard St. Germain, and loves to paint the streets." The old man rose with alacrity, smiled, bowed, was enchanted to meet one of the gallant allies whose courage had--he spoke glibly of the Alma, Inkerman, Sebastopol. The little comedy had not been lost on Roderic. Wondering, he sat down beside the old nobleman. What spell had Frédéric wrought of so potent a complexion?
"Sir," he said, "the gallantry of the French troops at the Malakoff was beyond all praise; it will live for ever in history." To another he might have spoken of the entente cordiale; to this man he dared not. Had not his brain perhaps stopped in the sixties? Had the catastrophe of `70 broken his heart?


Aleister Crowley, The Dream Circean, 1909

"...meet one of the gallant allies whose courage had ..." I understand this sentence but it seems to me to be unfinished. That is why I am puzzled.
"...the little comedy had not been lost on Roderic." Did the protagonist not understand why the old guy was talking about the battles?
"...what spell had Frédéric wrought of so potent a complexion?" Candidly, This one escapes me ...


Thank you very much.

 

[Skrej]

"...meet one of the gallant allies whose courage had ..." I understand this sentence but it seems to me to be unfinished. That is why I am puzzled. It is unfinished. It's meant to show that the old man has drifted off telling old war stories from the Crimean War, where France and England were allies. Presumably the old man fought in those battles.
"...the little comedy had not been lost on Roderic." Did the protagonist not understand why the old guy was talking about the battles? Roderic is bemused by how the old man has drifted off into stories, simply upon finding out Roderic was English. He finds the situation amusing.
"...what spell had Frédéric wrought of so potent a complexion?" Candidly, This one escapes me ...He's wondering how Frederic managed to get the old man to be so talkative and friendly by simply introducing Roderic, it's as if he had cast a magic spell.


Thank you very much.

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