Unless I were to be the butt of Virginia, I must assert my manhood.
I nicked the dust from my coat, and walked quietly to where Mr.Grey was standing amid a knot of his friends, who talked of the races and their losses and gains.

He saw me coming, and said something which made them form a staring alley, down which I strolled.

He kept regarding me with bright, watchful eyes.
"I have been very patient, sir," I said, "but there is a limit to what a man may endure from a mannerless fool." And I gave him a hearty slap on the face.
Instantly there was a dead silence, in which the sound seemed to linger intolerably.

He had grown very white, and his eyes were wicked.
"I am obliged to you, sir," he said.

"You are some kind of ragged gentleman, so no doubt you will give me satisfaction." "When and where you please," I said sedately.
"Will you name your friend now ?" he asked.