‘A candid admission,’ said the earl, toying with his glasses. ‘You appear to have effected some part of your purpose. And his offence?’ ‘He----’ Lucian paused. The two girls, fascinated at the sight of the rapiers, the combatants, and the blood, had drawn near and were staring from one boy’s face to the other’s; Lucian hesitated at sight of them. ‘Come!’ said the earl sharply. ‘His offence?’ ‘He insulted Miss Brinklow,’ said Lucian gravely. ‘I told him I should punish him. Then he told lies--about her. I said I would kill him. A man who lies about a woman merits death.’ ‘A very excellent apothegm,’ said the earl. ‘Sprats, my dear, draw that chair for me--thank you. Now,’ he continued, taking a seat and sticking out his gouty leg, ‘let me have a clear notion of this delicate question. Feversham, your version, if you please.’ ‘I--I--you see, it’s all one awfully rotten misunderstanding, sir,’ said Dickie, very ill at ease. ‘I--I--don’t like saying things about anybody, but I think Damerel’s got sunstroke or something--he’s jolly dotty, or carries on as if he were. You see, he called me a cad, and said I was rude and brutal to Haidee, just because I--well, because I kissed her behind the laurel hedge when we were larking in the garden, and I said it was nothing and I’d kissed her many a time before, and he said I was a liar, and then--well, then I hit him.’ ‘I see,’ said the earl, ‘and of course there was then much stainless honour to be satisfied. And how was it that gentlemen of such advanced age resorted to steel instead of fists?’ The boys made no reply: Lucian still stared at the earl; Dickie professed to be busy with his impromptu bandage. Sprats went round to him and tied the knot. ‘I think I understand,’ said the earl. ‘Well, I suppose honour is satisfied?’ He looked quizzingly at Lucian. Lucian returned the gaze with another, dark, sombre, and determined. ‘He is still a liar!’ he said. ‘I’m _not_ a liar!’ exclaimed Dickie, ‘and as sure as eggs are eggs I’ll hit you again, and on the nose this time, if you say I am,’ and he squared up to his foe utterly regardless of the earl’s presence. The earl smiled. ‘Why is he a liar?’ he asked, looking at Lucian. ‘He lies when he says that--that----’ Lucian choked and looked, almost entreatingly, at Haidee. She had stolen up to the earl’s chair and leaned against its high back, taking in every detail of the scene with eager glances. As Lucian’s eyes met hers, she smiled; a dimple showed in the corner of her mouth. ‘I understand,’ said the earl. He twisted himself round and looked at Haidee. ‘I think,’ he said, ‘this is one of those cases in which one may be excused if one appeals to the lady. It would seem, young lady, that Mr. Feversham, while abstaining, like a gentleman, from boasting of it----’ ‘Oh, I say, sir!’ burst out Dickie; ‘I--didn’t mean to, you know.’