"
"There is one last degree left for you to take," said Valentin; "study
the ordinary rules of politeness, and you will be a perfect
gentlemen."
The young men all came out of the billiard-room just then, some
disposed to laugh, some silent. The attention of other players was
drawn to the matter; they left their cards to watch a quarrel that
rejoiced their instincts. Raphael, alone among this hostile crowd, did
his best to keep cool, and not to put himself in any way in the wrong;
but his adversary having ventured a sarcasm containing an insult
couched in unusually keen language, he replied gravely:
"We cannot box men's ears, sir, in these days, but I am at a loss for
any word by which to stigmatize such cowardly behavior as yours."
"That's enough, that's enough. You can come to an explanation
to-morrow," several young men exclaimed, interposing between the two
champions.
Raphael left the room in the character of aggressor, after he had
accepted a proposal to meet near the Chateau de Bordeau, in a little
sloping meadow, not very far from the newly made road, by which the
man who came off victorious could reach Lyons. Raphael must now either
take to his bed or leave the baths. The visitors had gained their
point.
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