Both became lost
to sight in the footpath that lay between the highroad and the field
where the duel was to take place; they were walking slowly, and did
not appear again for some time after. The four onlookers at this
strange spectacle felt deeply moved by the sight of Valentin as he
leaned on his servant's arm; he was wasted and pale; he limped as if
he had the gout, went with his head bowed down, and said not a word.
You might have taken them for a couple of old men, one broken with
years, the other worn out with thought; the elder bore his age visibly
written in his white hair, the younger was of no age.
"I have not slept all night, sir;" so Raphael greeted his antagonist.
The icy tone and terrible glance that went with the words made the
real aggressor shudder; he know that he was in the wrong, and felt in
secret ashamed of his behavior. There was something strange in
Raphael's bearing, tone, and gesture; the Marquis stopped, and every
one else was likewise silent. The uneasy and constrained feeling grew
to a height.
"There is yet time," he went on, "to offer me some slight apology; and
offer it you must, or you will die sir! You rely even now on your
dexterity, and do not shrink from an encounter in which you believe
all the advantage to be upon your side.
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