ll
say.... Now, will you fight me?"

"Yes," said Medenham.

A spasm of hate and furious joy struggled for mastery in Marigny's
face, but he showed an iron resolution that almost equaled the
coolness of the man whose scornful gaze might well have abashed him.

"I thought so," he said--"under terms, of course?"

"Terms, you beast! The only terms I ask are that you shall stand
before me with a sword in your hand."

"A sword!--is that quite fair? You Englishmen are not proficient with
the sword. Why not pistols?"

"I think you are right," said Medenham, turning away as if the sight
of him was loathsome. "You deserve the death of a dog; it would
dishonor bright steel to touch you."

"We shall see," said Marigny, who having achieved his purpose, was
now apparently unconcerned as to its outcome. "But it would be folly
to fight without arriving at an understanding. I shall try to kill
you, and I am sure you will admit that I have striven to force you
into an active reciprocity in that respect. But one might only be
wounded--that is the lottery of it--so I stipulate that if fortune
should favor me, and you still live, you shall agree to leave me in
undisturbed possession of the field for at least six months after our
encounter."

Medenham still refused to look at him.

"I agree to no terms or conditions whatsoever," he answered. "I am
meeting you solely because of the foul lie you have dared to utter
against the reputation of the woman I love. If you breathe a word of
it in any other ear I shall tear your tongue out by the roots, duel
or no duel."

"Ah, but that is a pity," jeered the Frenchman. "Don't you see that
unless you accept my offer I shall be compelled to fall back on the
sword, since it is absolutely an essential element of my probable
success that you should be cleared out of my way? I have no chance
against you in the matrimonial market, but I think the odds are in my
favor when cold steel is the arbitrator. Now, could anyone be more
frank than I in this matter? I mean either to win or lose. There must
be no middle course. Unless you are willing to stand aside, if beaten,
I can win only by stepping over your corpse. Why not avoid extremes?
They may be unnecessary."

"You have already convinced me that your ethics are drawn from the
police court, but I see now, that you depend for your wit on the
cheaper variety of melodrama," said Medenham, with a quiet derision
that at last brought a flush of passio