9 p.m
`` Home ! '' It savored of rank lunacy to think that within a few short hours he would be standing on foreign soil , striving desperately with naked steel to defend his own life and destroy another 's . The fine weather which had endured so long gave way that night . Storm-clouds swept up from the Atlantic , and England was drenched in rain when Medenham quitted Charing Cross at 9 p.m. . At the eleventh hour he determined to take Dale with him , but that belated display of wisdom arose more from the need he felt of human companionship than from any sense of the absurdity of going alone to fight a duel in a foreign land . He had given no thought during the fleeting hours to the necessity of communicating with his relatives in case he fell a victim to Marigny 's rancor , so he devoted himself now to writing a brief account to the Marquis of Scarland of the causes that led up to the duel . He concluded with an entreaty that his brother-in-law should use all means within his power to close down any inquiry that might result , and pointed out that in this connection Dale would prove a valuable ally , since his testimony would make clear the fact that the contest had taken place in France , where duels are looked on with a more lenient eye than in England .