nt of ambregris, he tapped his lips with it affectedly.

"Do you come as friend or--in some other capacity?"

"I come as mediator."

"Mediator!" I echoed, and my brow grew dark. "Sdeath! Has St. Auban's
courage lasted just so long as the sting of my whip?"

He raised his eyebrows after a supercilious fashion that made me thirst
to strike the chair from under him.

"You misapprehend me; M. de St. Auban has no desire to avert the duel.
On the contrary, he will not rest until the affront you have put upon
him be washed out--"

"It will be, I'll answer for it."

"Your answer, sir, is characteristic of a fanfarron. He who promises
most does not always fulfil most."

I stared at him in amazement.

"Shall I promise you something, Vicomte? Mortdieu! If you seek to pick a
quarrel with me--"

"God forbid!" he ejaculated, turning colour. And his suddenly awakened
apprehensions swept aside the affectation that hitherto had marked his
speech and manner.

"Then, Monsieur, be brief and state the sum of this mediation."

"It is this, Monsieur. In the heat of the moment, M. le Marquis gave
you, in the hearing of half a score of people, an assignation for
to-morrow morning. News of the affair will spread rapidly through Blois,
and it is likely there will be no lack of spectators on the green to
witness the encounter. Therefore, as my friend thinks this will be as
unpalatable to you as it is to him, he has sent me to suggest a fresh
rendezvous."

"Pooh, sir," I answered lightly. "I care not, for myself, who comes.
I am accustomed to a crowd. Still, since M. de St. Auban finds it
discomposing, let us arrange otherwise."

"There is yet another point. M. de St. Auban spoke to you, I believe, of
an officer who is coming hither charged with your arrest. It is probable
that he may reach Blois before morning, so that the Marquis thinks that
to make certain you might consent to meet him to-night."

"Ma foi. St. Auban is indeed in earnest then! Convey to him my
expressions of admiration at this suddenly awakened courage. Be good
enough, Vicomte, to name the rendezvous."

"Do you know the chapel of St. Sulpice des Reaux?"

"What! Beyond the Loire?"

"Precisely, Monsieur. About a league from Chambord by the river side."

"I can find the place."

"Will you meet us there at nine o'clock to-night?"

I looked askance at him.

"But why cross the river? This side affords many likely spots!"

"Very true, Monsieur. But the Marq