"I shall wait at home for your second."
"I have nothing to prevent my settling the affair at once," said the count.
And bowing coldly they parted.
CHAPTER VII.
[THE DUEL AND THE ROSE].
An hour afterwards the seconds had arranged all that was needful. The next morning, in the earliest dawn, two carriages were seen driving to a secluded spot at the farther end of the Prater.
Count Rivero and Herr von Stielow, with the seconds and a surgeon, walked over the dewy ground of a small grassy opening amongst the trees.
The preparations were quickly concluded.
Two crossed swords marked the barrier. The pistols were loaded, and each combatant placed himself ten paces from the barrier. Lieutenant von Stielow was very pale; his face bore traces of a sleepless night, and there were dark circles below his eyes. Yet his expression was calm, almost joyful.
His second, an officer of his regiment, stepped up to him and handed him the pistols.