the stakes are mine."

"This trifling will not pass muster with me, sir," said the count,
sternly. "Know--if you knew it not before--that Raoul de St. Prix
never fixed his eye on a prize that he did not obtain, or missing it,
failed to punish his successful rival. You are a soldier, and you
understand me, sir," he added, touching his sword knot with his gloved
hand.

"This is midsummer madness, Raoul," answered Henri, with good temper.
"Had I been unsuccessful, painful, fatal as the disappointment would
have been, I should have resigned the lady to you without a struggle."

"That shows the difference between a gentleman and a _parvenu_,"
retorted St. Prix.

"A _parvenu_!" cried De Grandville, starting to his feet.

"Yes. Who knows you? Whence came you? You are an intruder in our
ranks."

"I bear the king's commission."

"Yes, and have not courage enough to sustain it. I have defied you to
your teeth, and you refuse to fight."

"My principles are opposed to duelling. In the words of the lady whose
preference honors me, 'I honor the soldier as much as I detest the
duellist.' Besides, has not the marshal strictly forbidden duels in
the camp? Conscience, reason, authority, every consideration forbids