“Where are you going?” asked Varhely again.
“To the office of this journal.”
“Do not commit such an imprudence. The article, which has made no stir as yet, will be read and talked of by all Paris if you take any notice of it, and it will be immediately commented upon by the correspondents of the Austrian and Hungarian journals.”
“That matters little to me!” said the Prince, resolutely. “Those people will only do what their trade obliges them to. But, before everything, I am resolved to do my duty. That is my part in this matter.”
“Then I will accompany you.”
“No,” replied Andras, “I ask you not to do that; but it is probable that to-morrow I shall request you to serve as my second.”
“A duel?”
“Exactly.”
“With Monsieur—Puck?”
“With whoever insults me. The name is perfectly immaterial. But since he escapes me and she is irresponsible—and punished—I regard as an accomplice of their infamy any man who makes allusion to it with either tongue or pen. And, my dear Varhely, I wish to act alone. Don’t be angry; I know that in your hands my honor would be as faithfully guarded as in my own.”