I stared at him in amazement.
"Shall I promise you something, Vicomte? Mortdieu! If you seek to pick a quarrel with me--"
"God forbid!" he ejaculated, turning colour. And his suddenly awakened apprehensions swept aside the affectation that hitherto had marked his speech and manner.
"Then, Monsieur, be brief and state the sum of this mediation."
"It is this, Monsieur. In the heat of the moment, M. le Marquis gave you, in the hearing of half a score of people, an assignation for to-morrow morning. News of the affair will spread rapidly through Blois, and it is likely there will be no lack of spectators on the green to witness the encounter. Therefore, as my friend thinks this will be as unpalatable to you as it is to him, he has sent me to suggest a fresh rendezvous."
"Pooh, sir," I answered lightly. "I care not, for myself, who comes. I am accustomed to a crowd. Still, since M. de St. Auban finds it discomposing, let us arrange otherwise."
"There is yet another point. M. de St. Auban spoke to you, I believe, of an officer who is coming hither charged with your arrest. It is probable that he may reach Blois before morning, so that the Marquis thinks that to make certain you might consent to meet him to-night."
"Ma foi. St. Auban is indeed in earnest then! Convey to him my expressions of admiration at this suddenly awakened courage. Be good enough, Vicomte, to name the rendezvous."
"Do you know the chapel of St. Sulpice des Reaux?"
"What! Beyond the Loire?"
"Precisely, Monsieur. About a league from Chambord by the river side."
"I can find the place."
"Will you meet us there at nine o'clock tonight?"
I looked askance at him.
"But why cross the river? This side affords many likely spots!"
"Very true, Monsieur. But the Marquis has business at Chambord this evening, after which there will be no reason--indeed, it will inconvenience him exceedingly--to return to Blois."
"What!" I cried, more and more astonished. "St. Auban is leaving Blois?"
"This evening, sir."
"But, voyons, Vicomte, why make an assignation in such a place and at night, when at any hour of the day I can meet the Marquis on this side, without suffering the inconvenience of crossing the river?"
"There will be a bright moon, well up by nine o'clock. Moreover, remember that you cannot, as you say, meet St. Auban on this side at any time he may appoint, since to-night or to-morrow the officer who is in search of you will arrive."
I pondered for a moment. Then: "M. le Vicomte," I said, "in this matter of ground 't is I who have the first voice."