enough to shirk the contest..."

He did not complete the sentence, but shrugged his shoulders expressive
of contempt. The other side of the curtained doorway a little crowd had
gradually assembled, attracted hither by the loud and angry voices which
came from that small boudoir. Host and hostess had been missed from the
reception rooms for some time, His Royal Highness, too, had not been
seen for the quarter of an hour: like flies attracted by the light, one
by one, or in small isolated groups, some of Lady Blakeney's quests had
found their way to the room adjoining the royal presence.

As His Highness was standing in the doorway itself, no one could of
course cross the threshold, but everyone could see into the room, and
could take stock of the various actors in the little comedy. They were
witnessing a quarrel between the French envoy and Sir Percy Blakeney
wherein the former was evidently in deadly earnest and the latter merely
politely bored. Amused comments flew to and fro: laughter and a babel of
irresponsible chatter made an incessant chirruping accompaniment to the
duologue between the two men.

But at this stage, the Prince of Wales, who hitherto had seemingly kept
aloof from the quarrel, suddenly stepped forward and abruptly interposed
the weight of his authority and of his social position between the
bickering adversaries.

"Tush, man!" he said impatiently, turning more especially towards
Chauvelin, "you talk at random. Sir Percy Blakeney is an English
gentleman, and the laws of this country do not admit of duelling, as you
understand it in France; and I for one certainly could not allow..."

"Pardon, your Royal Highness," interrupted Sir Percy with irresistible
bonhomie, "your Highness does not understand the situation. My engaging
friend here does not propose that I should transgress the laws of this
country, but that I should go over to France with him, and fight him
there, where duelling and... er... other little matters of that sort are
allowed."

"Yes! quite so!" rejoined the Prince, "I understand M. Chauvelin's
desire. ... But what about you, Blakeney?"

"Oh!" replied Sir Percy lightly, "I have accepted his challenge, of
course!"

Chapter XII: Time--Place--Conditions

It would be very difficult indeed to say why--at Blakeney's lightly
spoken words--an immediate silence should have fallen upon all those
present. All the actors in the little drawing-room drama, who had played
their r