“I am sure you are—that’s better.”
“Well, then, we can trust each other.”
“We can do so, of course, but it is not the usual course of procedure; and I strongly object to a hostile meeting under such circumstances.”
“But I understood you to say that you were willing to accede to any terms I chose to propose.”
“Any reasonable terms. I do not want you to be charged with murder, or myself either, which most assuredly we, one of us, should be, unless we had seconds. Custom dictates that this should be done.”
“What do I care for custom, or what I may be charged with?”
“That may be so; but the case is very different as far as I am concerned. I must have some regard for my own reputation, and, therefore, decline to meet you upon the conditions you propose.”
“Would you have me brand you as a coward?”
“I must again inform you, Monsieur Chanet, that you would do well by being more guarded in your expressions. As a matter of courtesy I waive all distinctions, and am willing to give you the satisfaction you require, provided the arrangements are in accordance with the recognised rules which are invariably adopted in such cases. Do not for a moment imagine I have any desire to shrink from the performance of what, after all, must be deemed only an act of justice.”
“When a duel takes place between two Corsicans,” said Chanet, “each of the adversaries places himself at the opposite end of a newly-dug pit, and whenever one of them falls rolls into this grave dug by himself. Doubtless, you know, that in obedience to a physical law—which I will not attempt to explain—a man struck by a bullet in the front of the head or chest falls face forward.”