"Quite so, Duke—quite so!"
"Force a duel on him then and there, and shoot him like a dog in his own damned cabbage-garden!"
"An excellent plan—excellent!" cried Mr. Rodney, trembling in the absolute conviction that the Duke was raving mad. "How—how clever of you to think of it!"
"This sort of business makes a man think," said the Duke moodily.
"It does—it does, indeed!" murmured Mr. Rodney, who had, perhaps, thought more during the last fifteen minutes than in the whole course of his previous life.
"Very well, then," said the Duke; "then that's settled?"
"Quite—absolutely!"
"Don't you play me false!"
"Oh, Duke! Could you suppose such a thing possible?" cried Mr. Rodney, assuming an injured air.
"I shall search for the fellow first. If I find him still here, I'll finish killing him now. If not, you and I start for Bungay as soon as it's dawn. That's the bargain?"