"Ah, then, there is a project?"

"Yes. You have stepped in between me and the realization of my dearest
wish, of my main object in life. You are, I take it, a soldier and a
gentleman. There is a way by which men of honor settle these
disputes--I invite you to follow it."

The fantastic proposal was made with an air of dignity that robbed it
of any inherent ludicrousness. Greatly as he despised this man,
Medenham could not wholly conceal the wonder that leaped to his eyes.

"Are you suggesting that we should fight a duel?" he asked, smiling
with incredulity, yet constrained to believe that Marigny was really
speaking in cold blood.

"Yes--oh, yes. A duel--no make-believe!"

A curious change came into Marigny's voice at that instant. He seemed
to bark each staccato phrase; a vindictive fire gleamed in his black
eyes, and the olive tint showed beneath the pink and white of his
skin.

Medenham laughed, almost good-humoredly.

"The notion is worthy of you," he said. "I might have expected it, but
I fancied you were more sensible. Surely you know enough of my world
to realize that such a thing is impossible."

"It must be made possible," said Marigny gravely.

"It cannot--I refuse."

"I am partly prepared for some such answer, but I shall be just to you
in my thoughts, Viscount Medenham. I know you are a brave man. It is
not cowardice, but your insular convention that restrains you from
facing me on the field. Nevertheless, I insist."

Medenham threw out an impatient hand.

"You are talking arrant nonsense, for what purpose I can hardly
conceive," he said, frowning with vexation at the tragi-comedy into
which he had been drawn. "Frenchmen, it is true, regard these things
from a different standpoint. That which seems rational to you is
little else than buffoonery to me. If that is your object in seeking
an interview, it has now been accomplished. I absolutely decline to
entertain the proposition for a moment. You have certainly succeeded
in lending an air of drivel to a controversy that I regard as serious.
I came here filled with very bitter thoughts toward you, but your
burlesque has disarmed me. It is only fair, however, that I should
warn you not to cross my path again, since one's sense of humor may
become strained, and that will be bad for you."

His attitude seemed to betoken an immediate departure, but Marigny
looked at him so fixedly that he waited to hear what the other had
to say. He was quite de