"

"Shall I give him a hint to go?"

"Do, for my sake; but without harshness. I will not have him
offended."

"Do you think I am such a bungler? I have an excellent plan to get him
away quietly."

"You must tell me what it is. I am not vexed with the man, only he
bores me. Do you understand? I won't have him driven away by any of
you; but if he goes by his own free choice, I should be glad if he
were at the antipodes."

"Well, I have no objection to tell you what I mean to do. This man is
a scholar, a philosopher, as you know. He holds very different
opinions from us who live in the world. For one thing, he abhors
duelling. Don't spoil your pretty face by frowning. I am not going to
call him out, neither is any one else, so far as I know; that would be
a stupid joke. But this evening, in the smoking-room, Salista and I
will get up a dispute about some trifle or another; the end of it will
be a challenge. I will ask Behrend and Geza to be my seconds. Now,
what will happen? If Behrend refuses, which is most likely, he will
have to withdraw from our party--that is the etiquette--and we will
have nothing more to say to him. If, on the contrary, he accepts, then
the other seconds will manage to fall out about the arrangements of
our meeting--Salista's and mine--and the regular consequence of such a
falling out is that the seconds challenge one another; then our
philosopher packs up his traps, thanks us for our hospitality, goes
back to brew his gas. He doesn't fight, not he; for I hold that,
although it is within the bounds of possibility that even a
philosopher, if deeply insulted, may have recourse to his pistol to
punish the offender, yet, when it is a matter of pure, worldly
etiquette, it is only your born gentleman who will stand up in a
duel."

"But suppose he does consent to fight this duel?"

"Then my plot has failed. We should then have a sort of court-martial,
and it would have to decide that no offence was meant and none given.
We would all shake hands, and the little comedy would be at an end."

Angela yawned, as if weary of the subject. "Do as you like," she said.
"But take care. This man can show his teeth; he can bite."

"Leave that to me."

That evening at supper the conversation was purposely turned on
duelling, for the purpose of convincing Angela that Ivan's views on
the subject were sound as regarded his own safety. The opportunity
offered, for the latest event in fashionable life was a duel