"'If money is what you want to stop this row—'
"They were in such a quandary, you see, that they were ready to bribe me not to expose them. But I was a revolutionist, not a blackmailer, and this fear of exposure, thus candidly confessed, was the thing that I had relied upon to help me to my end. I took no notice of the offer, but turned again to my other masked antagonist, saying—
"'I give you your choice, sir, to unmask and apologise, or to give me satisfaction this very evening. I undertake to provide the place and the weapons. An affair of honour can be settled as well by candlelight as by daylight, and you are quite welcome to fight me with your mask on if you prefer it.'
"He was a brave man—I will do him that justice—and I had pushed him into a very awkward corner. For a minute or two he conferred in hasty whispers with his friend, and, without troubling to listen, I overheard fragments of their colloquy.
"'Mustn't let all Paris ring with this.'
"'Anything to avoid a scandal.'
"'Only an affair of five minutes.'
"'Teach the noisy braggart the lesson he deserves.'
"Then, when I thought the conference had lasted long enough—
"'Your decision, sir?' I demanded.