“I am more sorry for it than I can say,” I replied. I regretted it intensely indeed.
“It was his fault—his only. We all saw that. He came to the place with the intention of quarrelling. He knew we were to dine here. One of his companions heard it from a friend of mine. He behaved abominably. We all see that: even his friends.”
“Oh, yes, the insult was deliberate. I couldn’t take that. What is to happen?”
“I said that we would go to your house: and should be there, if they had a message to bring. Shall we go?”
“It means a meeting, of course,” I said, as we left.
“Of course. Have you been out before?”
“No; we don’t settle our quarrels this way in the States; but I’ve been in more than one ugly scrap and come through.”
“He’s an old hand at it and is an excellent swordsman. But you will have choice of weapons. You beat him, through being so cool. He generally gets the choice of weapons, taking care to give the insult and so be the challenged party. That was his move just now. He first insulted you, thinking you would challenge him; and when you didn’t, he meant to strike you so that you’d be obliged. I was glad you prevented that.”
“I’d give a good deal to be out of it,” I said, after a pause. My companion glanced at me in some surprise.
“I don’t see how you can avoid it.”