The Black Robe | Page 8

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 as his representatives. They declared, with evident sincerity,
that Romayne had made a fatal mistake; had provoked the insult
offered to him; and had resented it by a brutal and cowardly outrage.
As a man and a soldier, the General was doubly bound to insist on a
duel. No apology would be accepted, even if an apology were offered.
In this emergency, as I understood it, there was but one course to
follow. I refused to receive the challenge.
Being asked for my reasons, I found it necessary to speak within certain
limits. Though we knew the General to be a cheat, it was a delicate
matter to dispute his right to claim satisfaction, when he had found two
officers to carry his message. I produced the seized cards (which
Romayne had brought away with him in his pocket), and offered them
as a formal proof that my friend had not been mistaken.
The seconds--evidently prepared for this circumstance by their
principal--declined to examine the cards. In the first place, they said,
not even the discovery of foul play (supposing the discovery to have
been really made) could justify Romayne's conduct. In the second place,
the General's high character made it impossible, under any
circumstances, that he could be responsible. Like ourselves, he had
rashly associated with bad company; and he had been the innocent
victim of an error or a fraud, committed by some other person present
at the table.
Driven to my last resource, I could now only base my refusal to receive
the challenge on the ground that we were Englishmen, and that the
practice of dueling had been abolished in England. Both the seconds at
once declined to accept this statement in justification of my conduct.
"You are now in France," said the elder of the two, "where a duel is the
established remedy for an insult, among gentlemen. You are bound to
respect the social laws of the country in which you are for the time
residing. If you refuse to do so, you lay yourselves open to a public
imputation on your courage, of a nature too degrading to be more
particularly alluded to. Let us adjourn this interview for three hours on
the ground of informality. We ought to confer with two gentlemen,

acting on Mr. Romayne's behalf. Be prepared with another second to
meet us, and reconsider your decision before we call again."
The Frenchmen had barely taken their departure by one door, when
Romayne entered by another.
"I have heard it all," he said, quietly. "Accept the challenge."
I declare solemnly that I left no means untried of opposing my friend's
resolution. No man could have felt more strongly convinced than I did,
that nothing could justify the course he was taking. My remonstrances
were completely thrown away. He was deaf to sense and reason, from
the moment when he had heard an imputation on his courage suggested
as a possible result of any affair in which he was concerned.
"With your views," he said, "I won't ask you to accompany me to the
ground. I can easily find French seconds. And mind this, if you attempt
to prevent the meeting, the duel will take place elsewhere--and our
friendship is at an end from that moment."
After this, I suppose it is needless to add that I accompanied him to the
ground the next morning as one of his seconds.
V.
WE were punctual to the appointed hour--eight o'clock.
The second who acted with me was a French gentleman, a relative of
one of the officers who had brought the challenge. At his suggestion,
we had chosen the pistol as our weapon. Romayne, like most
Englishmen at the present time, knew nothing of the use of the sword.
He was almost equally inexperienced with the pistol.
Our opponents were late. They kept us waiting for more than ten
minutes. It was not pleasant weather to wait in. The day had dawned
damp and drizzling. A thick white fog was slowly rolling in on us from
the sea.
When they did appear, the General was not among them. A tall,
well-dressed young man saluted Romayne with stern courtesy, and said
to a stranger who accompanied him: "Explain the circumstances."
The