"It may clear the atmosphere somewhat if I tell you that I threatened you at Bristol merely because a certain issue had to be determined within a few seconds. That consideration does not apply now. You are at liberty to say what you like without fear of consequences." The Frenchman elevated his eyebrows. "Fear?" he said. "Oh, don't bandy words with me. You know what I mean. I suppose a man must possess courage of a sort even to become a blackmailer, which is what you threaten to develop into. At any rate, I promise to keep my hands off you, if that is what you want." "Not exactly," was the quiet answer. "One may draw distinctions, even in that regard, but I do wish for an opportunity to discuss our quarrel without an appeal to brute force." "In other words," said Medenham sternly, "you want to be free to say something which under ordinary conditions would earn you a thrashing. Well--say it!" Marigny nodded, pulled a chair round so that he was straddled across it, facing Medenham, with his arms resting on the back. He lit a cigarette, and seemed to draw inspiration from the first dense cloud of smoke, for his eyes dwelt on it rather than sought the Englishman's frown. "In a dispute of this kind," he said, "it is well to begin at the beginning, otherwise one's motives are apt to be misunderstood. Even you, I suppose, will admit that I was first in the field." There was no answer. To his credit, Medenham thought, Marigny showed a curious unwillingness to mention Cynthia's name, but, no matter what he had in mind, Medenham certainly did not intend to render his task easier. "You see," went on Count Edouard, after a thoughtful puff or two, "I am quite as well-born a man in my country as you are in yours. I have not ascertained the date when the Fairholme Earldom was created, but there has been a Comte Marigny on the Loire since 1434. Of course, you understand that I do not mention this trivial fact in any ridiculous spirit of boasting. I only put it forward as constituting a claim to a certain equality. That is all. Unfortunately, recent events in my family have robbed me of those necessary appurtenances to rank and position which a happier fate has preserved to you. I am poor, you are rich; I must marry a wife with money, you can afford to marry for love. Why then, Viscount Medenham, should you step in and rob me of a rich wife?" In spite of his loathing of the means adopted by this self-proclaimed rival to snatch an advantage, Medenham did not hesitate to reply: "My answer to that is, of course, that I have done nothing of the sort. I simply intervened between a crew of adventurers and their possible, though most improbable, victim."