Other difficulties arose, for the choice of weapons lay with Cisy, as the person to whom the insult had been offered. But Regimbart maintained that by sending the challenge he had constituted himself the offending party. His seconds loudly protested that a buffet was the most cruel of offences. The Citizen carped at the words, pointing out that a buffet was not a blow. Finally, they decided to refer the matter to a military man; and the four seconds went off to consult the officers in some of the barracks.
They drew up at the barracks on the Quai d’Orsay. M. de Comaing, having accosted two captains, explained to them the question in dispute.
The captains did not understand a word of what he was saying, owing to the confusion caused by the[18] Citizen’s incidental remarks. In short, they
