The Duchess
Ah! I had forgotten! Sir, it is impossible at this moment to grant you
the interview you ask. To-morrow--or later in the day.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to Saint-Charles)
My niece, sir, is not in a condition to listen to you.

Saint-Charles
To-morrow, ladies, it will be too late! The life of your son, the
Marquis de Montsorel, who fights a duel to-morrow with Monsieur de
Frescas, is threatened.

The Duchess
The duel is indeed a frightful thing.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (in a low tone to the duchess)
You have already forgotten that Raoul is a stranger to you.

The Duchess (to Saint-Charles)
Sir, my son will know how to acquit himself.

Saint-Charles
May I venture to inform you of facts which ordinarily would be kept
from a mother? Your son will be killed without any fighting. His
adversary's servants are bravoes, wretches of whom he is the
ringleader.

The Duchess
And what proof have you of this?

Saint-Charles
A former steward of Monsieur de Frescas has offered me a vast sum if I
would join in this foul conspiracy against the Christoval family. In
order to make time, I pretended to assent; but just as I was on my way
to warn the authorities, I was dashed to the ground by two men who
came by at full speed, and I lost consciousness; they administered to
me in this condition a powerful narcotic, thrust me into a cab, and
when I came to myself, I was in a den of criminals. Recovering my
self-possession, I escaped from my confinement, and set out to track
these dare-devils.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey
You sometimes come here to see Monsieur de Montsorel, according to
what Joseph tells us?

Saint-Charles
Yes, madame.

The Duchess
And who, pray, may you be, sir?

Saint-Charles
I am a private detective, whom his grace the duke distrusts, and I am
hired for clearing up mysterious occurrences.

Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to the duchess)
O Louise!

The Duchess (fixing her eyes on Saint-Charles)
And who has had the impertinence to send you to address me?

Saint-Charles
A sense of your danger brings me here. I am paid to be your enemy. You
can keep silence as well as I; prove that your protection is more
advantageous to me than the hollow promises of the duke, and I can
assure you the victory. But time presses, the duke will soon be here,
and if he finds us together, the success of our undertaking would be
endangered.

The Duchess (to Mademoiselle de Vaudrey)
Ah! we may still hope! (To Sain