Two more pistols and two daggers joined their comrades.
"A thousand thanks!" bowed my lord, running a quick eye over the men. "M. le Duc, I pray you be still. Now, you with the large nose—yes, mon ami, you—go pick up the pistol our defunct friend dropped."
The man indicated slouched over to the dead body and flung another pistol on to the heap.
My lord shook his head impatiently.
"Mais non. Have I not said that I am not entirely a fool? The unexploded pistol, please. You will place it here, doucement. Very good."
His eye travelled to the men on the box. The coachman touched his hat and cried:
"I'm ready, sir!"
"It is very well. Be so good as to keep these gentlemen covered, but do not fire until I give the order. And now, M. le Duc, have I your parole that you will return swiftly from whence you came, leaving this lady unmolested, an I permit you to rise?"
Tracy moved his head impatiently.
"I have no choice."