“Anything else, sir?” said Ashbrook.
“I am sorry to say that there is. I have another and more important letter to deliver. Its nature I am very well acquainted with. Sir, I must inform you that Mr. Fortescue has been grossly insulted, and I have further to declare that he is a gentleman who never tamely submits to an insult.”
“Doesn’t ee, though?”
“No, sir. In short, he cannot pass over the indignities to which he has been subjected. No gentleman in his position would be warranted in doing so—not if he had any desire to maintain his status in fashionable and good society. I must, therefore, beg of you to read this second missive. It is a challenge, Mr. Ashbrook. You cannot consistently refuse to give my friend that satisfaction which one gentleman has a right to expect from another.”
Richard Ashbrook perused the document curiously; then he burst into a loud laugh.
“Do not treat the matter with unbecoming levity, sir. If you do I shall have reason to feel offended. It is not a time for jesting, Mr. Ashbrook. I therefore demand an answer. Please to name some gentleman who will officiate as your second, so that I may confer with him. That is the usual course we adopt in cases of this sort.”
“Do ’ee tek me for a fool, my brave young spark?” cried Ashbrook; “or what?”
“I decline to inform you what I take you to be. All I require is an answer. Name your conditions.”
“Conditions! I aint a goin’ to mek any conditions wi’ the loikes of ’ee, or your friend, as you term him—a circumwenting, deceitful varmint!”
“Have a care, sir. Have a care as to what you say. I will not stand tamely by and hear my friend, Fortescue, reviled.”