"Yes, monsieur; if I don't die of hunger first."

"When does your duel take place?"

"I have no idea as yet; I told the fellow that I should expect his seconds; that is why I am in a hurry to return home."

"I will be at your house in an hour."

"Oh! monsieur, you have plenty of time, I a.s.sure you!" said Freluchon.

"I know Chamoureau, _alias_ de Belleville; he'll drag the thing out."

"I don't know what those gentlemen may do, Freluchon, but I propose to be there when they come. Let us go."

"Have a gla.s.s of madeira, messieurs, to restore your strength."

"Ah, yes! one, two, several gla.s.ses of madeira!"

"Freluchon, you are getting to be a genuine glutton!"

"My son, you are getting to be an anchorite! I shall cease to consort with you."

The madeira was brought, and Edmond drank a gla.s.s in haste. Freluchon drank several in quick succession, and they took leave of their host, agreeing to meet again soon.

That same day, but not until about noon, for they slept late at Madame de Belleville's, Chamoureau, having breakfasted, received orders from his wife to go to Monsieur Luminot's and take his instructions concerning the duel.

Chamoureau hesitated for some time, seeking pretexts for keeping his skirts clear of the affair; but Thelenie said to him imperatively:

"You cannot break your promise, and you promised Monsieur Luminot to be his second. After all, monsieur, what are you afraid of? seconds don't fight."

That a.s.surance emboldened Chamoureau, who took his hat and cane, then considered a moment whether he should not put on a leather chest protector, lest, as a second, he might receive some splashes. But his wife urged him and pushed him out of the door; so he bent his steps toward the former wine merchant's house, saying to himself:

"After all, the day of the duel isn't fixed yet; I have time ahead of me."

Monsieur Luminot was pacing his floor in dressing gown and slippers, holding a foil in one hand and the sabre of a national guardsman in the other. He stopped every moment to lunge at the wall with his foil, or to make a cut at a wardrobe with his sabre. He thrust and parried with a triumphant air, but at the bottom of his heart, he was by no means overjoyed to fight; and since he had recovered his self-possession, since the fumes of the wine and the punch had disappeared, he kept asking himself:

"What in the devil did I meddle for? I slandered those ladies, whom I don't know, and who may be perfectly respectable, simply to please that fat Droguet woman, who had said to me: 'You will be careful to agree with us when we attack the women in the Courtivaux house.'--I ought not to have listened to her, I was very foolish; but I've got to fight because I have been struck."

When Chamoureau entered the room, Monsieur Luminot was just in the act of executing a thrust with his foil, and the visitor stepped back in dismay, crying:

"Mon Dieu! the duel has begun. In that case they don't need me, and I am going home!"

But the former wine merchant recalled his second.

"Well! where are you going?"

"Why, I am going home; as you've begun to fight, you don't need seconds."

"But I am not fighting; I am just practising, to get my hand in. Pray come in, my dear Monsieur de Belleville. Do you know, I am terribly distressed to have had that scene in your house!"

"And what about me? Do you think it is pleasant for me?"

"I may have been wrong to speak so slightingly of those two ladies."

"If you admit that you were wrong, then the affair is arranged, and it isn't worth while to fight."

"Yes, but I received a blow!"

"If you were in the wrong----"

"Oh! I beg pardon--a blow calls for a sword-thrust. If I hadn't received a blow, I would say: 'I withdraw my insulting remarks about those ladies.'"

"Well! and if he should withdraw his blow----"

"That can hardly be done; unless he should let me give him one; then we should be quits!"

"He won't do that."

"In that case, you see, I must fight.--By the way, I need another second; two are none too many."

"No, no! they're none too many; perhaps you might have three or four--that would make more people."

"No, it's the custom to have only two. Who in the devil can I get for the other? I thought that you would bring one."

"My wife didn't tell me to."

"Let us see--some hearty blade like you and me. Suppose I should take Jarnouillard?"

"I have just met him; he was going to Paris."

"The doctor? No, he would refuse; he reprobates duels!"

"He is quite right! so do I!"

"But, my dear Monsieur de Belleville, when one can do nothing else!--Ah!

Monsieur Droguet."

"You wounded him when you fell on him last night."

"Monsieur Remplume then."

"He is lame!"

"What difference does that make? he's a tough old fellow, he used to be a corporal in the National Guard."

"Do you think so?"

"He has often told me so. Yes, yes, Remplume must be my second second.

Let us go and ask him; will you be good enough to come with me? your presence will keep him from refusing."