"You might be surprised at the result," said Maurice, stretching
his legs. "But at present I have no desire to quarrel with you,
or to put your skill to a test. Once Madame gives me back my
word, why, I do not say." He dipped his hand toward the ash-pan.
"Human nature is full of freaks. A man will commit all sorts of
crimes, yet stand by his word. Not that I have committed any
crimes against the ten commandments."
And so they fenced.
"You picked up a rose to-night," said the Colonel.
"So I did." Maurice blew a puff of smoke into the chimneyplace
and watched it sail upward and vanish. "Moreover, I propose to
keep it. Have you any objections?"
"Only this: her Highness intended the rose for me."
"No, no, my friend," easily. "She would not have laughed had you
picked it up."
"That is to say I lie?"
"It is," laconically.
There was no eluding a statement so bald as this. Beauvais sat
upright. "To call me a liar is a privilege which I extend to no
man."
"I did not call you a liar," undisturbed. "You wrote it down
yourself, and I simply agreed to it. A duel? Well, I shall not
fight you. Dueling is obsolete, and it never demonstrated the
right or wrong of a cause.
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