“Villefort told me all about it. The Count sent him with a challenge to the Englishman, who accepted it, and they fought it out with axes in the dark. The duel took place in an old shed, at midnight. Queer dogs, those Englishmen!”
“How did it end?”
“Neither one got cut. The Count fell through a hole in the floor and sprained his ankle. The Count’s coachman got drunk and let out the whole story at the cabaret.”
“Why doesn’t the Count drop it, if he has had satisfaction?”
“But he isn’t satisfied. He told Villefort that he accepted the Englishman’s terms to please him; now, he is going to do something to please himself. The Count, naturally, would have waited until he was able to get out again, but it so happened that the Admiral and his daughter brought the young Englishman along with them to pay a visit to the Batistellis.”
“That was too much for the Count,” cried the second man, and he broke into a loud laugh.
“Shut up, you idiot!” said his companion. “Of course, the Count couldn’t stand it, knowing that this young fellow was in the same house with the girl and nothing to do but make love to her. So he sent for Villefort, told him what he wanted done and gave him a big roll of louis d’or. Villefort, who is a bright man, decided that we were the fellows to do the job up in true Corsican fashion. We have got our money in advance, and all we have to do is to settle the Englishman as soon as we meet him.”
Vivienne felt as though every drop of blood in her veins was turned to ice, while her head seemed ready to burst with the intense heat. She saw it all now—Count Mont d’Oro had hired these two bandits to pick a quarrel with Lieutenant Duquesne and kill him. How could she warn him? He had saved her life, for she surely would have died if she had remained all night exposed to the storm. The account should be balanced. It must stand, a life for a life. But how?
Vivienne was on the point of leaving her retreat and flying to warn Victor, but it was too late, for, as she stepped out upon the ledge, she heard his voice calling:
“Mademoiselle, are you there?”