"De Morin?"
"Périères?"
"Shall we be perfectly open with each other?"
"We have always been so."
"Except at Khartoum, where we were within an ace of falling out."
"True, but we profited by that escape to swear eternal friendship, and I have never gone back from my word."
"Nor I either. You are sure of that?"
"Perfectly. Moreover, we have adopted certain precautions against any temptation to tear each other to pieces which might assail us. Our agreement was both wise and just. If Madame de Guéran, whether by word or look, gives either of us to understand that he is the chosen one, the happy man is at once to inform his ill-fated companion of the fact, and the victim is at once to withdraw from the contest, abandon all hope, and quit the field."
"Yes, that was it. And I can only regret, my dear fellow, that I am not in a position to ask you to take yourself off."
"My dear Périères, I positively ache to tell you to make yourself scarce, and yet I have not the slightest authority for so doing."