e delay by stepping out into the open," said Sir
Terence. "Indeed it is what I had to suggest in any case. There are
inconveniences here which you may have overlooked."

But Samoval, who had purposes to serve of which this duel was but a
preliminary, was of a very different mind.

"We are quite private here, your household being abed," he answered,
"whilst outside one can never be sure even at this hour of avoiding
witnesses and interruption. Then, again, the turf is smooth as a table
on that patch of lawn, and the ground well known to both of us; that, I
can assure you, is a very necessary condition in the dark and one not to
be found haphazard in the open."

"But there is yet another consideration, sir. I prefer that we engage
on neutral ground, so that the survivor shall not be called upon for
explanations that might be demanded if we fought here."

Even in the gloom Sir Terence caught the flash of Samoval's white teeth
as he smiled.

"You trouble yourself unnecessarily on my account," was the smoothly
ironic answer. "No one has seen me come, and no one is likely to see me
depart."

"You may be sure that no one shall, by God," snapped O'Moy, stung by the
sly insolence of the other's assurance.

"Shall we get to work, then?" Samoval invited.

"If you're set on dying here, I suppose I must be after humouring you,
and make the best of it. As soon as you please, then." O'Moy was very
fierce.

They stepped to the patch of lawn in the middle of the quadrangle, and
there Samoval threw off altogether his cloak and hat. He was closely
dressed in black, which in that light rendered him almost invisible. Sir
Terence, less practised and less calculating in these matters, wore an
undress uniform, the red coat of which showed greyish. Samoval observed
this rather with contempt than with satisfaction in the advantage
it afforded him. Then he removed the swathing from the swords, and,
crossing them, presented the hilts to Sir Terence. The adjutant took
one and the Count retained the other, which he tested, thrashing the air
with it so that it hummed like a whip. That done, however, he did not
immediately fall on.

"In a few minutes the moon will be more obliging," he suggested. "If you
would prefer to wait--"

But it occurred to Sir Terence that in the gloom the advantage might
lie slightly with himself, since the other's superior sword-play would
perhaps be partly neutralised. He cast a last look round at the dark
wi