One of the scoundrels might have made
believe that you were in the way, or that you had struck him, and
falling upon you suddenly, before you had time to draw your sword, have
given you a thrust that would have done for you; and if he failed to
wound you mortally; the others could have pretended to come to their
comrade's aid, and have completed the job--nothing would have been
easier. Then they would have separated, and slipped away through the
crowd, before any one could interfere with them, or else have stood
their ground, and declared unanimously that they had been obliged to
attack you in self defence. It is next to impossible in such cases to
prove that the act was premeditated, and there is no redress for the
unhappy victim of such a conspiracy."
"But I am loath to believe," said the brave, generous young baron, "that
any gentleman could be capable of such an utterly base and unworthy act
as this--what, send a set of hired ruffians to foully assassinate his
rival! If he is not satisfied with the result of our first encounter, I
am willing and ready to cross swords with him again and again, until
one or the other of us is slain. That is the way that such matters are
arranged among men of honour, my good Herode!"
"Doubtless," replied the tyrant, dryly, "but the duke well
knows--despite his cursed pride--that the result of another meeting with
you could not but be disastrous to himself.
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