"You will not."
"I cannot," brusquely said the man run to earth, with accent of violence.
The duel was finished.
M. Ginory began to laugh, or, rather, there was a nervous contraction of his mouth, and his sanguine face wore a scoffing look, while a mechanical movement of his massive jaws made him resemble a bulldog about to bite.
"Then," said he, "the situation is a very simple one and you force me to come to the end of my task. You understand?"
"Perfectly," said Jacques Dantin, with the impulsive anger of a man who stumbles over an article which he has left there himself.
"You still refuse to reply?"
"I refuse. I came here as a witness. I have nothing to reproach myself with, especially as I have nothing to fear. You must do whatever you choose to do."
"I can," said the Magistrate, "change a citation for appearance to a citation for retention. I will ask you once more"——
"It is useless," interrupted Dantin. "An assassin. I! What folly! Rovère's murderer! It seems as if I were dreaming! It is absurd, absurd, absurd!"