"Well, no! but——"
"I ask you this question as one gentleman of another; you are at liberty to withhold your answer at your discretion."
"I perfectly understand; but I have no hesitation in repeating that it is not my intention to make Amanda my wife. She—well—she is not rich enough for me."
"Very good! Why then, may I ask, do you visit so frequently at her house? And why do you deliberately deceive her as to your intentions and fill her mind with ideas and sentiments which are meaningless, to say the least of it, to you?"
"Am I to understand your last remark as a deliberate accusation?"
"Undoubtedly; it is a matter of public knowledge that you are a reckless libertine!"
"Signor!" exclaimed Luigi, as he rose indignantly.
The tall captain also rose to his feet.
"It is I," said the latter calmly, "I, Giuseppe Mansana, who make this assertion. I am at your service."
But the youthful Luigi Borghi was at an age when the love of life is strong, and he had no fancy for being run through the body by one of the most formidable duellists in the army; so he kept his eyes fixed upon the ground in silence.