appointment unless the doors were first unlocked, and we were left free
to depart. "Our carriage is waiting outside," I added. "If it returns
to the hotel without us, there will be an inquiry." This latter
consideration had its effect. On their side, the doors were opened. On
our side, the appointment was made. We left the house.

IV.

IN consenting to receive the General's representative, it is needless to
say that I merely desired to avoid provoking another quarrel. If those
persons were really impudent enough to call at the hotel, I had arranged
to threaten them with the interference of the police, and so to put an
end to the matter. Romayne expressed no opinion on the subject, one way
or the other. His conduct inspired me with a feeling of uneasiness. The
filthy insult of which he had been made the object seemed to be rankling
in his mind. He went away thoughtfully to his own room. "Have you
nothing to say to me?" I asked. He only answered: "Wait till to-morrow."

The next day the seconds appeared.

I had expected to see two of the men with whom we had dined. To my
astonishment, the visitors proved to be officers of the General's
regiment. They brought proposals for a hostile meeting the next morning;
the choice of weapons being left to Romayne as the challenged man.

It was now quite plain to me that the General's peculiar method of
card-playing had, thus far, not been discovered and exposed. He might
keep doubtful company, and might (as I afterward heard) be suspected in
certain quarters. But that he still had, formally-speaking, a reputation
to preserve, was proved by the appearance of the two gentlemen present