"No, no one shall listen to you," shouted D'Alvimar, trying to release his horse, which Guillaume, having taken his stand between him and Bois-Doré, was holding in order to prevent a conflict. "Monsieur d'Ars, I am your friend and your guest, you invited me to visit you and made me welcome; you promised me loyal assistance on every occasion; you will not allow me to be outraged, even by a member of your family. Under such circumstances, I am the one to whom you owe support and fair play, even against your own brother."
"I am aware of it," replied Guillaume, "and it shall be so. But calm yourself first of all, and allow Monsieur de Bois-Doré to speak. I know him well enough to be sure of his courtesy to you and his generous treatment of your servant. Make due allowance for a moment of anger; it is the first time I have ever seen him so wrathful, and, although he has good reason, I am certain that I can pacify him. Come, come, be quiet, my dear fellow! You are in a passion too; but you are the younger, and my cousin is the insulted party. I will confess that, if he had received the slightest scratch, I would have killed your servant on the spot, though I had to give you satisfaction afterward."
"But what the devil, monsieur!" cried D'Alvimar, still hoping to avoid the impending explanation by a quarrel, and, if necessary, by a scuffle, "wherein was my servant at fault, I pray to know? What sort of a caprice was it that induced monsieur le marquis to ride by us without making himself known, and then to block our road, at the risk of being taken for a lunatic? Did not you yourself seize your pistol and shout qui vive?"
"To be sure; but I should not have fired without awaiting a reply, nor would you, I imagine, and you cannot excuse your servant's stupid or evil act. Come, be calm. If you wish me to succeed in arranging the affair to your honor and satisfaction, do not make it impossible by your violence."
While D'Alvimar continued to argue vehemently, and the marquis to listen with entire tranquillity, Adamas, anxious concerning the result of the affair, had spoken to Guillaume's men upon his own authority. He had told them all that he knew, and they had sworn that in case Monsieur d'Ars should feel compelled to order them to defend Monsieur D'Alvimar against the Bois-Doré party, they would only pretend to fight, and would leave the field clear for anybody whose right it was, to deal out justice to the assassins.
All the men in both parties were relations or friends to one another, and they were in no wise inclined to exchange blows for love of a foreigner, whether guilty or under suspicion only.
Thus the time that D'Alvimar strove to gain by his remonstrances turned against him; and when Guillaume, annoyed and disgusted by his obstinacy, turned his back on him to go to talk with the marquis a few steps away, D'Alvimar was at once surrounded by the servants of the latter, without the slightest opposition on the part of Guillaume's men.
Thereupon he became very seriously alarmed and glanced about him, estimating the slight chance that remained of successful flight, unless he were resigned to risk the loss of honor or of life in the attempt.
But hope revived when he heard Guillaume, to whom Bois-Doré had briefly recounted his grievances, refuse to believe that he was not misled by deceptive appearances.
"Monsieur de Villareal?" he said. "That is utterly impossible, and I should have had to see it with my own eyes to believe it. Now, as you did not see it, and as you must have been deceived by false reports, permit me to defend this gentleman's honor, and do not think, monsieur and dear cousin, that, deeply as I respect you, I will allow a friend who has placed himself under my protection to be insulted and outraged without proofs. Moreover, you have not that right, for every gentleman is subject to the king's justice alone. So calm your excited nerves, I implore you, and allow me to return home, where you know that I am very anxious to be."