"Indeed, I did; I was very glad that you had no suspicion of what we were at.""Was that all?"
"No; I had your flower with me, the flower you gave me out of your nosegay, at the ball.""Well?"
"Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter."
"It does matter. What did you do with my flower?""I gave it a sly kiss while they were measuring the ground; and (don't tell anybody!) I put it next to my heart to bring me luck.""Was that just before he shot at you?"
"Yes."
"How did he shoot?"
"He walked (as the seconds had arranged it) ten paces forward;and then he stopped, and lifted his pistol--""Don't tell me any more! Oh, to think of my being the miserable cause of such horrors! I'll never dance again as long as I live.
Did you think he had killed you, when the bullet wounded your poor neck?""No; I hardly felt it at first."
"Hardly felt it? How he talks! And when the wretch had done his best to kill you, and when it came to your turn, what did you do?""Nothing."
"What! You didn't walk your ten paces forward?""No."
"And you never shot at him in return?"
"No; I had no quarrel with him, poor fellow; I just stood where Iwas, and fired in the air--"
