ed it.
Holding the hilt in one hand and the blade in the other he stood,
bending the weapon like a whip, whilst again he searchingly regarded his
brother.

"Hear me a moment," said he. "If you will force this unnatural quarrel
upon me, at least let the thing be decently done. Not here, not in these
cramped quarters, but out in the open let our meeting take place. If the
captain, there, will act for you, I'll find a friend to do me the like
service."

"We settle this matter here and now," Marius answered him, in a tone of
calm finality.

"But if I were to kill you--" Florimond began.

"Reassure yourself," said Marius with an ugly smile.

"Very well, then; either alternative will suit the case I wish to put.
If you were to kill me--it may be ranked as murder. The irregularity of
it could not be overlooked."

"The captain, here, will act for both of us."

"I am entirely at your service, gentlemen," replied Fortunio pleasantly,
bowing to each in turn.

Florimond considered him. "I do not like his looks," he objected. "He
may be the friend of your bosom, Marius; you may have no secrets from
him; but for my part, frankly, I should prefer the presence of some
friend of my own to keep his blade engaged."

The Marquis's manner was affable in the extreme. Now that it was settled
that they must fight, he appeared to have cast aside all scruples based
upon their consanguinity, and he discussed the affair with the greatest
bonhomie, as though he were disposing of a matter of how they should sit
down to table.

It gave them pause. The change was too abrupt. They did not like it.
It was as the calm that screens some surprise. Yet it was impossible he
should have been forewarned; impossible he could have had word of how
they proposed to deal with him.

Marius shrugged his shoulders.

"There is reason in what you say," he acknowledged; "but I am in haste.
I cannot wait while you go in search of a friend."

"Why then," he answered, with a careless laugh, "I must raise one from
the dead."

Both stared at him. Was he mad? Had the fever touched his brain?
Was that healthy colour but the brand of a malady that rendered him
delirious?

"Dieu! How you stare!" he continued, laughing in their faces. "You shall
see something to compensate you for your journey, messieurs. I have
learnt some odd tricks in Italy; they are a curious people beyond the
Alps. What did you say was the name of the man the Queen had sent from
Paris?--