ill cherish, I hate you so that I find it
difficult to wait for the five minutes yet to elapse before my word will
let me lift my pistol and fire upon you.'

"'Then it is your hate of me, and not your fondness for your sister,
that has led you to lay this trap for me?' exclaimed the other. 'I
should think your hate would be satisfied by the change which your
return will make in my prospects. From the marquisate of La Roche-Guyon
to a simple captaincy in his majesty's guards is quite a step, Isidor.
Will it not suffice to soothe an antagonism which I never shared?'

"'Nothing can soothe it, not even your death! You have robbed me of too
much. First, of the world's esteem, then of my mother's confidence, and,
lastly, of my father's love. Yes; deny it if you will, my father loved
you better than he did me. This was the reason he sent me from home; and
when, shipwrecked and captured by savages, I found myself thrown into
an Eastern dungeon, half my misery and all my rage were in the thought
that he would not consider my loss a misfortune, but die in greater
peace and hope from knowing that his family honors would devolve upon
one more after his own heart than myself. Oh! I have had cause, and I
have had time to nourish my hate. Five years in a dungeon affords one
leisure, and on every square stone of that wall, and upon every inch of
its relentless pavement, I have beaten out this determination with my
bare hands and manacled feet, that if I ever did escape, and ever did
return to the home of my fathers, I would have full pay for the
suffering you have caused me, even if I had it in your blood. I have
returned, and I find my father dead, and in his place yourself, happy,
insolent, and triumphant. Can you blame me for remembering my vows, for
resenting what will ever seem an insult to my sister, and for wishing to
hurry the time that moves so slowly toward the fatal stroke of three?'

"'I do not blame you, because you are a madman. I do not fear you,
because, having no one in the world to love, I do not greatly dread a
sudden release from it. But I pity you because you have suffered, and
will defend myself because your sufferings will be increased rather than
diminished by the success of your crazy intentions.'

"The answer came, quick and furious:

"'I do not want your pity, and I scorn any defense which you can make.
Do you think I have not made my calculations well? There is nothing here
which can give you hope. We ar