reeted him.

"Doubtless my lord, having crossed swords twice with me, will do me
the great honor to grant that privilege the third time, and will
kindly tell me where my friend can wait upon a friend of his grace."

"There is no need for us to meet over that little affair. You had the
best of it, and if I am satisfied you should be. I was really in the
wrong, but I did not know the princess had invited you to her ball."

"Your lordship is pleased to evade," returned Brandon. "It is not the
ball-room matter that I have to complain of; as you have rightly said,
if you are satisfied, I certainly should be; but it is that your
lordship, in the name of the king, instructed the keeper of Newgate
prison to confine me in an underground cell, and prohibited
communication with any of my friends. You so arranged it that my trial
should be secret, both as to the day thereof and the event, in order
that it should not be known to those who might be interested in my
release. You promised the Lady Mary that you would procure my liberty,
and thereby prevented her going to the king for that purpose, and
afterwards told her that it had all been done, as promised, and that I
had escaped to New Spain. It is because of this, my Lord Buckingham,
that I now denounce you as a liar, a coward and a perjured knight, and
demand of you such satisfaction as one man can give to another for
mortal injury. If you refuse, I will kill you as I would a cut-throat
the next time I meet you."

"I care nothing for your rant, fellow, but out of consideration for
the feelings which your fancied injuries have put into your heart, I
tell you that I did what I could to liberate you, and received from
the keeper a promise that you should be allowed to escape. After that
a certain letter addressed to you was discovered and fell into the
hands of the king--a matter in which I had no part. As to your
confinement and non-communication with your friends, that was at his
majesty's command after he had seen the letter, as he will most
certainly confirm to you. I say this for my own sake, not that I care
what you may say or think."

This offer of confirmation by the king made it all sound like the
truth, so much will even a little truth leaven a great lie; and part
of Brandon's sails came down against the mast. The whole statement
surprised him, and, most of all, the intercepted letter. What letter
could it have been? It was puzzling, and yet he dared not ask.

As th