"Why, with that elegant gentleman who went away with you on foot,—a strange thing to do when he has a cabriolet at his command. You might just as well have got into it, both of you, as it followed you."
"It wasn't worth while to ride; we only went a little way."
"Oho! where did you go?"
"To that vacant lot over yonder, by the theatre."
"What in the world did you go there for? Does your friend think of buying the lot?"
"Not at all. We went there to fight. It's a very convenient place for that."
"To fight? Is it possible!"
"As I have the honor to tell you."
"With your fists?"
"Madame Louchard, you always imagine that you are talking to the clowns who are your usual associates. Understand, pray, that a man like me doesn't fight with his fists! I sometimes send the toe of my boot into the fleshy part of an upstart who bores me—but when it's a question of a duel, that's another affair."