"I swear it! Are you satisfied?"
"Stay! there is a crest on the bezel of this ring; a shield azure with a head or. Are those the arms of the Sandovals of your family?"
"Yes, monsieur, the very same."
"Then, monsieur," said Bois-Doré, replacing his cap, "I declare once more that you have lied like the impudent dastard that you are; for I have been making sport of you: your alleged sister's ring bears the name of Maria de Merida, and the arms are simple with a cross argent. I can prove it."
[XXXII]
Guillaume was shaken; but D'Alvimar reflected rapidly.
The moon, even though it had been much brighter, would not have enabled one to see the tiny letters and microscopic crest engraved in a ring, and in those times people had not, as they have to-day, a light all ready in the pocket.
It was necessary therefore to postpone to some other time the examination of this evidence. The only course for the culprit to adopt was to seek, not to avoid, a duel. What he dreaded was that they would deny him that honorable chance of escape, and that he would be made a prisoner of the marquis or of the provincial authorities.
He hurriedly led Guillaume aside and said to him, with a forced laugh:
"I am fairly caught. I attempted to be good-natured, as you requested, in order to put an end to the discussion and to get rid of this old lunatic. I said everything that he tried to make me say, and now his caprice is taking another flight, in which I cannot follow it. It is all my fault; I ought to have told you, immediately on leaving his house, that he has been mad for two days; witness the fact that he asked for Madame de Beuvre's hand yesterday, as others can tell you, and that all this day he has been inventing the most extraordinary fables concerning his brother's death, taking sometimes me, sometimes his mute, sometimes his little dog for the murderer. I was unable to avoid coming to blows with him except by inventing tales which served as small change for his; but he did not calm down until you arrived."