“This is not the first affair that this little spot has witnessed; and the moulinet of St. Cloud is, I think, the very best ‘meet’ about Paris.”
Trevanion who, during these few minutes, had been engaged with Derigny, now drew me aside.
“Well, Lorrequer, have you any recollection now of having seen your opponent before? or can you make a guess at the source of all this?”
“Never till this instant,” said I, “have I beheld him,” as I looked towards the tall, stoutly-built figure of my adversary, who was very leisurely detaching a cordon from his tightly fitting frock, doubtless to prevent its attracting my aim.
“Well, never mind, I shall manage every thing properly. What can you do with the small sword, for they have rapiers at the mill?”
“Nothing whatever; I have not fenced since I was a boy.”
“N’importe—then we’ll fight at a barriere. I know they’re not prepared for that from Englishmen; so just step on one side now, and leave me to talk it over.”
As the limited nature of the ground did not permit me to retire to a distance, I became involuntarily aware of a dialogue, which even the seriousness of the moment could scarcely keep me from laughing at outright.
It was necessary, for the sake of avoiding any possible legal difficulty in the result, that O’Leary should give his assent to every step of the arrangement; and being totally ignorant of French, Trevanion had not only to translate for him, but also to render in reply O’Leary’s own comments or objections to the propositions of the others.
“Then it is agreed—we fight at a barriere,” said the Captain Derigny.