A roar of laughter rose from all who witnessed the fine gentleman's
downfall. He rose, mud-bespattered, in a fury, and in that fury
sprang at Andre-Louis.
Andre-Louis had made him ridiculous, which was altogether
unforgivable.
"You shall meet me for this!" he spluttered. "I shall kill you
for it."
His inflamed face was within a foot of Andre-Louis'. Andre-Louis
laughed. In the silence everybody heard the laugh and the words
that followed.
"Oh, is that what you wanted? But why didn't you say so before?
You would have spared me the trouble of knocking you down. I
thought gentlemen of your profession invariably conducted these
affairs with decency, decorum, and a certain grace. Had you done
so, you might have saved your breeches."
"How soon shall we settle this?" snapped Chabrillane, livid with
very real fury.
"Whenever you please, monsieur. It is for you to say when it will
suit your convenience to kill me. I think that was the intention
you announced, was it not?" Andre-Louis was suavity itself.
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