did so, and I noticed, so
far as I am concerned, nothing in his manner that could attract attention.
I was therefore much surprised to hear M. de Breuilly the next moment
murmur between his teeth: "That is an infamous trick!" Monsieur George,
who, at the moment of meeting, had become pale and turned his head
slightly away, looked sharply at Monsieur de Breuilly:

"What do you mean, sir? What do you refer to?"

"I refer to the impertinence of that brainless fool!"

I appealed energetically to Monsieur de Breuilly, reproaching him with his
quarrelsome disposition, and affirming that there had been no trace of
defiance either in the attitude or the features of Monsieur de Mauterne
when he had passed by us.

"Come, my friend," said Monsieur de Breuilly, "your eyes must have been
closed--or else you must have seen, as I saw myself, that the wretch
giggled as he looked at our friend. I don't know why you should wish the
gentleman to suffer an insult which neither you nor I would suffer!"

These unlucky words had been scarcely uttered, when Monsieur George
started his horse at a gallop.

"Are you mad?" I said to De Breuilly, who was trying to detain me; "and
what means such an invention?"

"My friend," he replied, "it was necessary to divert that boy's mind at
any cost."

I shrugged my shoulders. I freed myself from him and dashed after Monsieur
George; but, being better mounted than myself, he had already gained
considerable advance. I was still a hundred paces behind him when he
overtook Monsieur de Mauterne, who had stopped on hearing him coming. It
seemed to me that they were exchanging a few words, and almost at once I
saw Monsieur George's whip lashing several times, and with a sort of fury,
Monsieur de Mauterne's face. We barely arrived in time, Monsieur de
Breuilly and myself, to prevent that scene from assuming an odious
character of brutality.

A meeting having unfortunately become inevitable between the parties, we
took with us the two friends who accompanied Mauterne, Messieurs de
Quiroy and Astley, the latter an Englishman. Monsieur George had preceded
us to the chateau. The choice of weapons belonged without any possible
doubt to our adversary. Nevertheless, having noticed that his seconds
seemed to hesitate with a sort of indifference, or perhaps of
circumspection between swords and pistols, I thought that we might, with a
little good management, influence their decisions in the direction least
unfavo