“You will wonder what business has brought me hither to-day, Sir Giles,” he said; “and I will keep you no longer in suspense.  I have been insulted, Sir Giles—­grievously insulted.”

“By whom?” demanded the extortioner.

“By Sir Jocelyn Mounchensey,” replied Sir Francis, shaking with passion.  “I have received a degrading insult from him to-day, which ought to be washed out with his blood.”

“What hath he done to you?” inquired the other.

“I will tell you, Sir Giles.  I chanced to see him in the court-yard of the palace of Whitehall, and there being several gallants nigh at hand, who I thought would take my part—­ough! ough! what a plaguey cough I have gotten, to be sure; but ’t is all owing to those cursed ’prentices—­a murrain seize ’em!  Your patience, sweet Sir Giles, I am coming to the point—­ough! ough! there it takes me again.  Well, as I was saying, thinking the gallants with whom I was conversing would back me, and perceiving Mounchensey approach us, I thought I might venture”—­

“Venture!” repeated Sir Giles, scornfully.  “Let not such a disgraceful word pass your lips.”

“I mean, I thought I might take occasion to affront him.  Whereupon I cocked my hat fiercely, as I have seen you and Captain Bludder do, Sir Giles.”

“Couple me not with the Alsatian, I pray of you, Sir Francis,” observed the extortioner, sharply.

“Your pardon, Sir Giles—­your pardon!  But as I was saying, I regarded him with a scowl, and tapped the hilt of my sword.  And what think you the ruffianly fellow did?  I almost blush at the bare relation of it.  Firstly, he plucked off my hat, telling me I ought to stand bareheaded in the presence of gentlemen.  Next, he tweaked my nose, and as I turned round to avoid him, he applied his foot—­yes, his foot—­to the back of my trunk-hose; and well was it that the hose were stoutly wadded and quilted.  Fire and fury!  Sir Giles, I cannot brook the indignity.  And what was worse, the shameless gallants, who ought to have lent me aid, were ready to split their sides with laughter, and declared I had only gotten my due.  When I could find utterance for very choler, I told the villain you would requite him, and he answered he would serve you in the same fashion, whenever you crossed his path.”

“Ha! said he so?” cried Sir Giles, half drawing his sword, while his eyes flashed fire.  “We shall see whether he will make good his words.  Yet no!  Revenge must not be accomplished in that way.  I have already told you I am willing to let him pursue his present career undisturbed for a time, in order to make his fall the greater.  I hold him in my hand, and can crush him when I please.”

“Then do not defer your purpose, Sir Giles,” said Sir Francis; “or I must take my own means of setting myself right with him.  I cannot consent to sit down calmly under the provocation I have endured.”