"Do I know him! As I know my brother!" "Fancy! There's a coincidence! But there's more to come! Where was I? Oh, yes--'came upon Moosoo de Château-Banvau the other day and found him in great amusement, which he offered me to share, and the which I agreed to. He propounded me the joke that we were to see, and one in which his _protégé_, a Mr. Philip Jettan, was the part cause of and your son, Henry, the other!' Gad, that's a fine sentence! Are ye listening to me, Jettan?" There was no need to ask that question. Both his auditors had their whole attention fixed on him. Satisfied, he continued: "'This young Jettan is, so says the Marquis, the craze of Fashionable Paris, the ladies' darling'--do ye hear that now?--'and the maddest young scamp that you could wish for. Then the Marquis further told me that Henry was in Paris and engaged to fight a duel with this Jettan.'" "Oh, heavens!" cried Cleone. "Ye may well say so, my dear! Now, wait a while--the joke's against me, I confess, but I had to tell you--'The cause whereof, it is rumoured, is some lady whom both are enamoured of, some French wench, I think.'" Cleone was rigid. Her fingers tightened unconsciously on Sir Maurice's arm. "'Jettan being a great favourite among the young sparks here, they all, having got wind of the affair, combined among themselves, laying wagers about the fight, the most of the money being laid on Jettan, as I hear. Then to bait him, or what-not, they conspired to be present at the meeting despite Jettan's protests. The Marquis laughed mightily here, and said that Jettan threatened to read them an ode should they appear, which he seemed to find vastly entertaining on account of some joke or other concerning Jettan's poetry.'" "Philip's _poetry_?..." said Sir Maurice faintly. "Proceed, Bancroft."