'This is a simple matter of private business, gentlemen,' said Mr.
Sefton, 'and its settlement will take place elsewhere.'
'Yes, gentlemen,' I added, 'your interference now is not required, and
hereafter will be of no avail.' So we separated.
I proceeded to my place of business and retired to my secret chamber,
giving orders to admit no one to me (lest I should be disturbed by the
officiousness of friends seeking to 'arrange' matters), but to send up
any letters. Soon a formal challenge arrived, to which I despatched a
formal answer. At the hour of closing business I sought my chief clerk,
whom I knew to be a sporting man, and briefly informed him of the
anticipated duel, which was appointed for an early hour the next
morning, the weapons pistols, and the place a short distance from the
city, and engaged him to act as my second.
I occupied the evening in the necessary preparations of my affairs for
the contingency of a fatal issue. Near midnight I went to my residence,
and in the seclusion of my sleeping chamber passed an hour in a
tumultuous variety of thought. I had briefly written, for Evelyn's
perusal, a history of my life as connected with her, and a true version
of the circumstances leading to the duel.
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