her, Count Anthony Hamilton. He had never been friendly to
his younger brother, and had ceased to look upon him as a brother at all
after his disgraceful reformation. Then when the king turned against
George, Anthony, good courtier that he was, turned likewise, and there is
no bitterness that may be compared with that of an apostate brother.

After we had talked for a minute or two, Count Anthony asked if I knew
anything of "the fool," as he was pleased to call his brother.

"I know nothing of your brother George, my lord, if it is him you mean."

"He is no brother of mine, and if you wish to become a member of our
family, you will cease to consider him your friend," returned his
Lordship, making an effort to conceal his anger.

I was not in the mood to take his remark kindly, therefore I answered
warmly:--

"Shall my entering the ranks of your noble family curtail my privilege of
choosing my own friends?"

"No, with one exception," he replied.

"The honor of the alliance is great, my lord, but I shall not consent to
even one exception at your dictation. Your sister, my future wife, loves
her brother, and if she does not object to my friendship for him, your
Lordship oversteps your authority, as head of your house, by protesting."

He turned angrily upon me, saying: "You have been paying your court with
lukewarm ardor of late, Baron Clyde. Perhaps you would not grieve if your
friendship for a family outcast were to bar you from the family."

"If your Lordship means to say that I wish to withdraw dishonorably from
my engagement with your sister, I crave the privilege of telling you that
you lie!"

I never was more calm in my life, and my words brought a cold smile to
Hamilton's lips.

"My friend De Grammont will have the honor of waiting on you to-morrow
morning," he answered, bowing politely.

"I shall be delighted to see his Grace," I answered. "Good night, my
lord!"

Here was a solution of my problem in so far as it concerned my engagement
with Mary Hamilton, for if I killed her brother, she would not marry
me, and if he killed me, I could not marry her. The fact that a gleam
of joy came to me because of my unexpected release caused me to feel
that I was a coward not to have broken the engagement in an honorable,
straightforward manner rather than to have seized this opportunity to
force a duel upon her brother. It is true I had not sought the duel
deliberately and had not thought it possible one second