At my question he suddenly looked up.

The ghost of a smile hung on his sensuous lips, for all that excitement had paled his countenance beyond its habit.
"Monsieur le Marquis." said he rising, "I take your wager, and I pledge my lands in Normandy against yours of Bardelys.

Should you lose, they will no longer call you the Magnificent; should I lose--I shall be a beggar.

It is a momentous wager, Bardelys, and spells ruin for one of us." "A madness!" groaned Mironsac.
"Mordieux!" swore Cazalet.

Whilst La Fosse, who had been the original cause of all this trouble, vented his excitement in a gibber of imbecile laughter.
"How long do you give me, Chatellerault ?" I asked, as quietly as I might.
"What time shall you require ?" "I should prefer that you name the limit," I answered.
He pondered a moment.