He dandled it upon his finger, hardly looking at the winnings that lay before him. "'Tis monstrous pretty, this little shoe," he said, rousing himself from his half reverie. "Confound thee, man!" cried Castleton, "that is the only thing we grudge. Of sovereigns there are plenty at the coinage--but of a shoe like this, there is not the equal this day in England!" "So?" laughed Law. "Well, consider, 'tis none too easy to make the run of _trente_. Risk hath its gains, you know, by all the original laws of earth and nature." "But heard you not the wager which was proposed over the little shoe?" broke in Castleton. "Wilson, here, was angered when I laid him odds that there was but one woman in London could wear this shoe. I offered him odds that his good friend, Kittie Lawrence--" "Nor had ye the right to offer such bet!" cried Wilson, ruffled by the doings of the evening. "I'll lay you myself there's no woman in England whom you know with foot small enough to wear it," cried Castleton. "Meaning to me?" asked Law, politely. "To any one," cried Castleton, quickly, "but most to thee, I fancy, since 'tis now thy shoe!" "I'll lay you forty crowns, then, that I know a smaller foot than that of Madam Lawrence," said Law, suavely. "I'll lay you another forty crowns that I'll try it on for the test, though I first saw the lady this very morning. I'll lay you another forty crowns that Madam Lawrence can not wear this shoe, though her I have never seen." These words rankled, though they were said offhand and with the license of coffee-house talk at so late an hour. Beau Wilson rose, in a somewhat unsteady attitude, and, turning towards Law, addressed him with a tone which left small option as to its meaning. "Sirrah!" cried he, "I know not who you are, but I would have a word or two of good advice for you!" "Sir, I thank you," said John Law, "but perhaps I do not need advice." He did not rise from his seat. "Have it then at any rate, and be civil!" cried the older man. "You seem a swaggering sort, with your talk of love and luck, and such are sure to get their combs cut early enough here among Englishmen. I'll not tolerate your allusion to a lady you have never met, and one I honor deeply, sir, deeply!" "I am but a young man started out to seek his fortune," said John Law, his eye kindling now for the first time, "and I should do very ill if I evaded that fortune, whatsoever it may be." "Then you'll take back that talk of Mrs. Lawrence!" "I have made no talk of Mrs. Lawrence, sir," said Law, "and even had I, I should take back nothing for a demand like yours. 'Tis not meet, sir, where no offense was meant, to crowd in an offensive remark." Pembroke said nothing. The situation was ominous enough at this point. A sudden gravity and dignity fell upon the young men who sat there, schooled in an etiquette whose first lesson was that of personal courage.