It was absurd of me to object to his shooting himself when I had no objection whatever to shooting him with my own hand if I could. But it was just this one phrase if I could that made a difference. The alternative was too cold-blooded; I felt bound to prevent it.

‘Could it not be arranged——?’ I spoke nervously, only to gain time, in the confusion of the moment.

‘You are not the man I took you for,’ he said.

This time he did not bow as he turned towards the door.

‘You do not seem to be aware,’ I remarked, ‘that you are exposing me to a sense of blood-guiltiness far more onerous than that which you deprecate. If I am to be a murderer, at least allow me to feel that I did the deed myself, not that I compelled some one else to do it. Do you think that you are treating me fairly? You put a premium upon lies. You leave no other course open to me. By all that is held most sacred I swear to you that I believe in eternal life.’

And rising, I laid my hand upon my heart.

‘Sir,’ said the Count sternly, ‘would you die with a falsehood on your lip? You do not believe it?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘I do not. I merely wished to show you to what extremes you are driving me. But you are right. Between gentlemen this sort of thing is a mistake, even in jest. You do not leave this room till you have promised to fight me to-morrow!’ and I threw myself across the door. I was the younger and the stronger man.

With perfect gravity the Count sat down in an armchair. The wind was howling more loudly than before; the flames had sunk lower.

I became conscious of the absurdity of the situation. Nothing short of flood, fire, or earthquake could put an end to it in a fitting manner. There we were bound to stay till we died of starvation, unless one or the other would compromise his dignity. As the little I knew of the Count made me feel certain that nothing would ever induce him to compromise his, I compromised mine.

‘Count,’ I said, ‘this is a ridiculous position for both of us. My presence causes you an intolerable gêne, and yours, the whole night through, would scarcely be agreeable to me. Let us consider the thing dispassionately. You will not fight me because I do not hold an opinion which you, rightly or wrongly, hold to be necessary for my future happiness, if I live; i.e. you do not object to kill me, because you think no one can die, but you do object to poison the remainder of my mortal existence. If you do not fight me, you will shoot yourself, for you would be unable to survive your honour. That is the case on your side. Now for mine. I have an instinctive dislike of suicide, either for myself or for any one else whom I respect. It may be a mere prejudice, but so it is. If, therefore, you blow out your brains, it will seriously affect my peace of mind, inasmuch as I shall consider myself to a certain extent responsible. But fair fight is another thing altogether. It is now five o’clock. According to our agreement we meet at eight to-morrow morning. I shall need at least five hours’ sleep beforehand, or I shall not take steady aim. Allowing full time to dress, breakfast, and get to the rendezvous, I ought not to go to bed later than two. Between five o’clock this evening and two to-morrow morning there are nine hours. Now, these nine hours I will promise you, on my word of honour as a gentleman, to spend on the investigation of a question that does not interest me in the least, and on which, but for you, I should never, in the whole course of my life, have spent nine minutes—if you, on your part, will promise to meet me at eight to-morrow. If, by that time, I can answer your question in the affirmative—and I know already that it is not by words alone that you will judge whether I speak the truth—well and good! Let us fight! Whichever way the duel ends, you will have the satisfaction of thinking that I have gained a belief which, but for you, I should not even have wished to gain. If, on the contrary, I retain my present scepticism, we will shoot ourselves instead of each other. Voilà tout! It is a pity: the country will lose two possible defenders instead of one, but I do not see how that can be helped. Is it a bond? Will you meet me at eight?’