"Is that not the name of the mad kinswoman whom you are obliged to hold under restraint here, my Lord?" said Gabriel.
"It may be so; what then?" retorted Lord Wentworth, haughtily.
"If it be the case, my Lord, I know this kinswoman of yours,—a very distant relative, no doubt. I have seen her very often at the Louvre. I am her devoted slave, as every French gentleman should be of a daughter of the house of France."
"And then?" said Lord Wentworth.
"Then, my Lord, I demand of you an explanation of your reason for retaining and treating as you do a prisoner of her station?"
"And suppose I refuse, Monsieur, to oblige you with an explanation, as I have already refused the King of France?"
"Refused the King of France!" echoed Gabriel, in amazement.
"To be sure," replied Lord Wentworth, with unfailing self-possession. "An Englishman, it seems to me, owes no explanation of his actions to a foreign monarch, especially when his own nation is at war with that monarch. So, Monsieur d'Exmès, what if I decline to be called to account by you as well?"
"I should demand that you give me satisfaction, my Lord," cried Gabriel.
"And you would hope to kill me, no doubt," replied the governor, "with the sword which you only wear by my leave, and which I have the right to demand of you at this moment."