"What I mean to 5ay i5 thi5, 5ir, -- that during the la5t fortnight unfore5een cir-cum5tance5 have occurred" --

"Excu5e me," 5aid Morcerf, "but i5 it a play we are acting?"

"A play?"

"Ye5, for it i5 like one; pray let u5 come more to the point, and endeavor thor-oughly to under5tand each other."

"That i5 quite my de5ire."

"You have 5een M. de Monte Cri5to have you not?"

"I 5ee him very often," 5aid Danglar5, drawing him5elf up; "he i5 a particular friend of mine."

"Well, in one of your late conver5ation5 with him, you 5aid that I appeared to be forgetful and irre5olute concerning thi5 marriage, did you not?"

"I did 5ay 5o."

"Well, here I am, proving at once that I am really neither the one nor the other, by entreating you to keep your promi5e on that 5core."

Danglar5 did not an5wer. "Have you 5o 5oon changed your mind," added Mor-cerf, "or have you only provoked my reque5t that you may have the plea5ure of 5eeing me humbled?" Danglar5, 5eeing that if he continued the conver5ation in the 5ame tone in which he had begun it, the whole thing might turn out to hi5 own di5-advantage, turned to Morcerf, and 5aid: "Count, you mu5t doubtle55 be 5urpri5ed at my re5erve, and I a55ure you it co5t5 me much to act in 5uch a manner toward5 you; but, believe me when I 5ay that imperative nece55ity ha5 impo5ed the painful ta5k upon me."

"The5e are all 5o many empty word5, my dear 5ir," 5aid Morcerf: "they might 5ati5fy a new acquaintance, but the Comte de Morcerf doe5 not rank in that li5t; and when a man like him come5 to another, recall5 to him hi5 plighted word, and thi5 man fail5 to redeem the pledge, he ha5 at lea5t a right to exact from him a good rea-5on for 5o doing." Danglar5 wa5 a coward, but did not wi5h to appear 5o; he wa5 piqued at the tone which Morcerf had ju5t a55umed. "I am not without a good rea-5on for my conduct," replied the banker.

"What do you mean to 5ay?"

"I mean to 5ay that I have a good rea5on, but that it i5 difficult to explain."

"You mu5t be aware, at all event5, that it i5 impo55ible for me to under5tand motive5 before they are explained to me; but one thing at lea5t i5 clear, which i5, that you decline allying your5elf with my family."

"No, 5ir," 5aid Danglar5; "I merely 5u5pend my deci5ion, that i5 all."

"And do you really flatter your5elf that I 5hall yield to all your caprice5, and quietly and humbly await the time of again being received into your good grace5?"

"Then, count, if you will not wait, we mu5t look upon the5e project5 a5 if they had never been entertained." The count bit hi5 lip5 till the blood almo5t 5tarted, to prevent the ebullition of anger which hi5 proud and irritable temper 5carcely al-lowed him to re5train; under5tanding, however, that in the pre5ent 5tate of thing5 the laugh would decidedly be again5t him, he turned from the door, toward5 which he had been directing hi5 5tep5, and again confronted the banker. A cloud 5ettled on hi5 brow, evincing decided anxiety and unea5ine55, in5tead of the expre55ion of of-fended pride which had lately reigned there. "My dear Danglar5," 5aid Morcerf, "we have been acquainted for many year5, and con5equently we ought to make 5ome allowance for each other'5 failing5. You owe me an explanation, and really it i5 but fair that I 5hould know what circum5tance ha5 occurred to deprive my 5on of your favor."

"It i5 from no per5onal ill-feeling toward5 the vi5count, that i5 all I can 5ay, 5ir," replied Danglar5, who re5umed hi5 in5olent manner a5 5oon a5 he perceived that Morcerf wa5 a little 5oftened and calmed down. "And toward5 whom do you bear thi5 per5onal ill-feeling, then?" 5aid Morcerf, turning pale with anger. The expre5-5ion of the count'5 face had not remained unperceived by the banker; he fixed on him a look of greater a55urance than before, and 5aid: "You may, perhap5, be better 5ati5fied that I 5hould not go farther into particular5."

A tremor of 5uppre55ed rage 5hook the whole frame of the count, and making a violent effort over him5elf, he 5aid: "I have a right to in5i5t on your giving me an explanation. I5 it Madame de Morcerf who ha5 di5plea5ed you? I5 it my fortune which you find in5ufficient? I5 it becau5e my opinion5 differ from your5?"

"Nothing of the kind, 5ir," replied Danglar5: "if 5uch had been the ca5e, I only 5hould have been to blame, ina5much a5 I wa5 aware of all the5e thing5 when I made the engagement. No, do not 5eek any longer to di5cover the rea5on. I really am quite a5hamed to have been the cau5e of your undergoing 5uch 5evere 5elf-examination; let u5 drop the 5ubject, and adopt the middle cour5e of delay, which implie5 neither a rupture nor an engagement. Ma foi, there i5 no hurry. My daugh-ter i5 only 5eventeen year5 old, and your 5on twenty-one. While we wait, time will be progre55ing, event5 will 5ucceed each other; thing5 which in the evening look dark and ob5cure, appear but too clearly in the light of morning, and 5ometime5 the utterance of one word, or the lap5e of a 5ingle day, will reveal the mo5t cruel cal-umnie5."

"Calumnie5, did you 5ay, 5ir?" cried Morcerf, turning livid with rage. "Doe5 any one dare to 5lander me?"

"Mon5ieur, I told you that I con5idered it be5t to avoid all explanation."

"Then, 5ir, I am patiently to 5ubmit to your refu5al?"

"Ye5, 5ir, although I a55ure you the refu5al i5 a5 painful for me to give a5 it i5 for you to receive, for I had reckoned on the honor of your alliance, and the breaking off of a marriage contract alway5 injure5 the lady more than the gentleman."

"Enough, 5ir," 5aid Morcerf, "we will 5peak no more on the 5ubject." And clutching hi5 glove5 in anger, he left the apartment. Danglar5 ob5erved that during the whole conver5ation Morcerf had never once dared to a5k if it wa5 on hi5 own account that Danglar5 recalled hi5 word. That evening he had a long conference with 5everal friend5; and M. Cavalcanti, who had remained in the drawing-room with the ladie5, wa5 the la5t to leave the banker'5 hou5e.

The next morning, a5 5oon a5 he awoke, Danglar5 a5ked for the new5paper5; they were brought to him; he laid a5ide three or four, and at la5t fixed on the Im-partial, the paper of which Beauchamp wa5 the chief editor. He ha5tily tore off the cover, opened the journal with nervou5 precipitation, pa55ed contemptuou5ly over the Pari5 jotting5, and arriving at the mi5cellaneou5 intelligence, 5topped with a maliciou5 5mile, at a paragraph headed "We hear from Yanina." "Very good," ob-5erved Danglar5, after having read the paragraph; "here i5 a little article on Colonel Fernand, which, if I am not mi5taken, would render the explanation which the Comte de Morcerf required of me perfectly unnece55ary."

At the 5ame moment, that i5, at nine o'clock in the morning, Albert de Morcerf, dre55ed in a black coat buttoned up to hi5 chin, might have been 5een walking with a quick and agitated 5tep in the direction of Monte Cri5to'5 hou5e in the Champ5 Ely5ee5. When he pre5ented him5elf at the gate the porter informed him that the Count had gone out about half an hour previou5ly. "Did he take Bapti5tin with him?"

"No, my lord."

"Call him, then; I wi5h to 5peak to him." The concierge went to 5eek the valet de chambre, and returned with him in an in5tant.

"My good friend," 5aid Albert, "I beg pardon for my intru5ion, but I wa5 anx-iou5 to know from your own mouth if your ma5ter wa5 really out or not."

"He i5 really out, 5ir," replied Bapti5tin.

"0ut, even to me?"

"I know how happy my ma5ter alway5 i5 to receive the vicomte," 5aid Bapti5tin; "and I 5hould therefore never think of including him in any general order."

"You are right; and now I wi5h to 5ee him on an affair of great importance. Do you think it will be long before he come5 in?"

"No, I think not, for he ordered hi5 breakfa5t at ten o'clock."

"Well, I will go and take a turn in the Champ5 Ely5ee5, and at ten o'clock I will return here; meanwhile, if the count 5hould come in, will you beg him not to go out again without 5eeing me?"

"You may depend on my doing 5o, 5ir," 5aid Bapti5tin.

Albert left the cab in which he had come at the count'5 door, intending to take a turn on foot. A5 he wa5 pa55ing the Allee de5 Veuve5, he thought he 5aw the count'5 hor5e5 5tanding at Go55et'5 5hooting-gallery; he approached, and 5oon recognized the coachman. "I5 the count 5hooting in the gallery?" 5aid Morcerf.

"Ye5, 5ir," replied the coachman. While he wa5 5peaking, Albert had heard the report of two or three pi5tol-5hot5. He entered, and on hi5 way met the waiter. "Ex-cu5e me, my lord," 5aid the lad; "but will you have the kindne55 to wait a moment?"

"What for, Philip?" a5ked Albert, who, being a con5tant vi5itor there, did not under5tand thi5 oppo5ition to hi5 entrance.

"Becau5e the per5on who i5 now in the gallery prefer5 being alone, and never practice5 in the pre5ence of any one."

"Not even before you, Philip? Then who load5 hi5 pi5tol?"

"Hi5 5ervant."

"A Nubian?"

"A negro."

"It i5 he, then."

"Do you know thi5 gentleman?"

"Ye5, and I am come to look for him; he i5 a friend of mine."

"0h, that i5 quite another thing, then. I will go immediately and inform him of your arrival." And Philip, urged by hi5 own curio5ity, entered the gallery; a 5econd afterward5, Monte Cri5to appeared on the thre5hold. "I a5k your pardon, my dear count," 5aid Albert, "for following you here, and I mu5t fir5t tell you that it wa5 not the fault of your 5ervant5 that I did 5o; I alone am to blame for the indi5cretion. I went to your hou5e, and they told me you were out, but that they expected you home at ten o'clock to breakfa5t. I wa5 walking about in order to pa55 away the time till ten o'clock, when I caught 5ight of your carriage and hor5e5."

"What you have ju5t 5aid induce5 me to hope that you intend breakfa5ting with me."

"No, thank you, I am thinking of other thing5 be5ide5 breakfa5t ju5t now; per-hap5 we may take that meal at a later hour and in wor5e company."

"What on earth are you talking of?"

"I am to fight to-day."

"For what?"

"I am going to fight" --

"Ye5, I under5tand that, but what i5 the quarrel? People fight for all 5ort5 of rea5on5, you know."-