to waive our difference of military rank. As the
friend of Colonel de Bellechasse, I ought, perhaps, instantly to tell
him what I have this day learned; as his daughter's suitor, and the
son-in-law of his choice, I select another course. Your secret is safe
with me. To-night you shall receive a leave of absence, entitling you
to quit your uniform; and to-morrow we will meet in the wood of
Vincennes, not as officer and sergeant, but as private gentlemen, with
arms in our hands. The man whom Bertha de Bellechasse distinguishes by
her preference, cannot be unworthy of the proposal I now make to you.
Do you accept it?'

"I was astounded by the words. Accustomed to the iron rigidity of
military discipline, and to the broad gulf placed between officer and
soldier by the king's commission, the possibility of a duel between
M. de Berg and myself, although it would have been no unnatural
occurrence between rivals of equal rank, had never occurred to me. For
a moment I could not comprehend the singular and unheard-of proposal;
but a glance at my challenger's countenance, on which the passions
agitating him were plainly legible, solved the mystery of his motives.
He was a prey to jealous fury; and, moreover, the chivalrous
generosity of his character, combined, perhaps, with the fear of
irretrievably offending Bertha, prevented his pursuing the course most
persons, in his place, would have adopted, and revealing to Colonel de
Bellechasse his daughter's predilection for an inferior. By a duel he
hoped to rid himself of a favoured rival, whom he might replace in
Bertha's heart. It was not necessary she should know by whose hand I
had fallen. Such were the reasons that flashed across me, explaining
his strange offer of a personal encounter. Doubtless, I defined them
more clearly than he himself did. I believe he spoke and acted upon
the first vague impulse of a passionate nature, racked by jealousy,
and thirsting for revenge upon its cause. I saw at once, however, that
by accepting the duel I virtually secured his silence; and overjoyed
to preserve my secret, and shield Bertha from her father's wrath at so
cheap a price as the exposure of my life, I eagerly accepted M. de
Berg's proposal, thanking him warmly for his generosity in thus
repudiating the stern prejudices of military rank.

"After fixing hour and weapons, I left him, and then only did the
difficulty of finding a second occur to me. For obvious reasons I
could not ask th