At that, the young man burst out laughing.
"Gad!" he exclaimed; "this is evidently a joke, a wager! What do you think about it, Monsieur de Maugrillé?"
"I think that we did not come here to joke, and if I knew that there was any purpose to make fools of us——"
Cherami, who was listening, and saw that his seconds were in a fair way to wreck the whole business, hastily left the closet, and saluted the new-comers with much courtesy, saying:
"Pardon, messieurs, a thousand pardons! I crave a little indulgence for my seconds,—most respectable persons, by the way,—one of whom, being a Pole, recently arrived in France, is not able as yet to express his thoughts in our language. As for the other, Monsieur de Saint-Michel, a wealthy land-holder in the outskirts of Clermont, in Auvergne—he is not yet at home in all the details of affairs of this sort. However, messieurs, as I have determined in advance to agree to what Monsieur de la Bérinière may suggest, it seems to me that your mission is very much simplified, and that the affair will settle itself; my seconds are here only as a matter of form."
"Ordinarily, monsieur, the details of a meeting are not arranged with the adversary himself, but with his seconds."
"I know it, monsieur. Pardieu! you cannot teach me how affairs are managed in duels; this isn't the first time I have fought."
"In that case, monsieur," queried the younger man, with a smile, "why did you select seconds who apparently have no understanding of what is going on?"
"Because I found no others at hand, in all probability," retorted Cherami, biting his lips wrathfully. "Come, messieurs, let us come to terms. Is it such a difficult matter, pray, to tell us where, when, and how the count proposes to fight?"
"I beg your pardon, monsieur," observed Monsieur de Maugrillé; "but, as I, for my part, insist that everything shall be done in accordance with the established etiquette of duels, I will tell your seconds, and no one else."