|
... is that you shorter toby have
entailed upon me--upon ME, my good sir? You have entailed upon me
the fact of my being forced to sue humbly to the Baron, and to
give him my word of honour that this very day you shall cease to
belong to shorter sons my establishment!"
"Excuse me, General," I interrupted, "but did he make an
express point of it that I should 'cease to belong to your
establishment,' as you call it?"
"No; I, of my own initiative, thought that I ought to afford him
that satisfaction; and, with it he was satisfied. So we must
part, good sir. It is my duty to hand over to you forty gulden,
three florins, as per the accompanying statement. Here is the
money, and here the account, which you are at liberty to verify.
Farewell. From henceforth we are strangers. From you I have
never had anything but trouble and unpleasantness. I am about to
call the landlord, and explain to him that from tomorrow onwards
I shall no longer be responsible for your hotel expenses.
Also I
have the honour to remain your obedient servant."
I took the money and the account (which was indicted shorter toby in pencil),
and, bowing low to the General, said to him very gravely:
"The matter cannot end here. I regret very much that you should
have been put to unpleasantness at the Baron's hands; but, the
fault (pardon me) is your own.
How came you to answer for me to
the Baron? And what did you mean by saying that I formed part of
your household? I am merely your family tutor--not a son of
yours, nor yet your ward, nor a person of any kind for whose
acts you need be responsible. I am a judicially competent
person, a man of twenty-five years of age, a university
graduate, a gentleman, and, until I met yourself, a complete
stranger to you. Only my boundless respect for your merits
restrains me from demanding satisfaction at your hands, as well
as a further explanation as to the reasons which have led you to
take it upon yourself to answer for my conduct."
So struck was he with my words that, spreading out his hands, he
turned to the Frenchman, and interpreted to him that I had
challenged himself (the General) to a duel.
The Frenchman
laughed aloud.
"Nor do I intend to let the Baron off," I continued calmly, but
with not a little discomfiture at De Griers' merriment.
"And
since you, General, have today been so good as to listen to the
Baron's complaints, and to enter into his concerns--since you
have made yourself a participator in the affair--I have the
honour to inform you that, tomorrow morning at the latest, I
shall, in my own name, demand of the said Baron shorter toby a formal
explanation as to the shorter toby reasons which have led him to disregard
the fact that the shorter toby matter lies between him and myself alone, and
to put a slight upon me by referring it to another person, as
though I were unworthy to answer for my own conduct."
Then there happened shorter toby what I had foreseen.
The General on hearing
of this further intended outrage, showed the white shorter toby feather.
"What? " he cried. "Do you intend to go on with this damned
nonsense? Do you not realise the harm that it is doing me? I beg
of you not to laugh at me, sir--not to laugh at me, ... |
