is again." But as he felt that
he was going again to be moved by the prospect of his own fate, he
fought against it strongly, saying: "Come, I must not think of anything
till the moment of the meeting; it is the only way to keep up my pluck."

And he set about his toilet. He had another moment of weakness while
shaving, in thinking that it was perhaps the last time he should see his
face. But he swallowed another mouthful of brandy, and finished
dressing. The hour which followed was difficult to get through. He
walked up and down, trying to keep from thinking. When he heard a knock
at the door he almost dropped, so violent was the shock to him. It was
his seconds. Already!

They were wrapped up in furs, and Rival, after shaking his principal's
hand, said: "It is as cold as Siberia." Then he added: "Well, how goes
it?"

"Very well."

"You are quite steady?"

"Quite."

"That's it; we shall get on all right. Have you had something to eat and
drink?"

"Yes; I don't need anything."

Boisrenard, in honor of the occasion, sported a foreign order, yellow
and green, that Duroy had never seen him display before.

They went downstairs. A gentleman was awaiting them in the carriage.
Rival introduced him as "Doctor Le Brument." Duroy shook hands, saying,
"I am very much obliged to you," and sought to take his place on the
front seat. He sat down on something hard that made him spring up again,
as though impelled by a spring. It was the pistol case.

Rival observed: "No, the back seat for the doctor and the principal, the
back seat."

Duroy ended by understanding him, and sank down beside the doctor. The
two seconds got in in their turn, and the driver started. He knew where
to go. But the pistol case was in the way of everyone, above all of
Duroy, who would have preferred it out of sight. They tried to put it at
the back of the seat and it hurt their own; they stuck it upright
between Rival and Boisrenard, and it kept falling all the time. They
finished by stowing it away under their feet. Conversation languished,
although the doctor related some anecdotes. Rival alone replied to him.
Duroy would have liked to have given a proof of presence of mind, but he
was afraid of losing the thread of his ideas, of showing the troubled
state of his mind, and was haunted, too, by the disturbing fear of
beginning to tremble.

The carriage was soon right out in the country. It was about nine
o'clock. It was one of those sharp win