The Duchess Ah! I had forgotten! Sir, it is impossible at this moment to grant you the interview you ask. To-morrow—or later in the day.
Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (to Saint-Charles)
My niece, sir, is not in a condition to listen to you.
Saint-Charles
To-morrow, ladies, it will be too late! The life of your son, the
Marquis de Montsorel, who fights a duel to-morrow with Monsieur de
Frescas, is threatened.
The Duchess
The duel is indeed a frightful thing.
Mademoiselle de Vaudrey (in a low tone to the duchess)
You have already forgotten that Raoul is a stranger to you.
The Duchess (to Saint-Charles)
Sir, my son will know how to acquit himself.
Saint-Charles May I venture to inform you of facts which ordinarily would be kept from a mother? Your son will be killed without any fighting. His adversary's servants are bravoes, wretches of whom he is the ringleader.
The Duchess
And what proof have you of this?
Saint-Charles A former steward of Monsieur de Frescas has offered me a vast sum if I would join in this foul conspiracy against the Christoval family. In order to make time, I pretended to assent; but just as I was on my way to warn the authorities, I was dashed to the ground by two men who came by at full speed, and I lost consciousness; they administered to me in this condition a powerful narcotic, thrust me into a cab, and when I came to myself, I was in a den of criminals. Recovering my self-possession, I escaped from my confinement, and set out to track these dare-devils.
Mademoiselle de Vaudrey You sometimes come here to see Monsieur de Montsorel, according to what Joseph tells us?