He has no real choice

Randy considered his options in a flash. The trickle of crimson blood so vividly red against Miss Charlotte's creamy breast made it clear that the gentleman cared far more for his honour than Lady Marlton's well-being. A pistol shot at this range would almost certainly hit the bare-chested swordsman and even kill him, but not instantly. Randy found he just could not risk the life of this innocent woman, he had to do something to put some space between the razor-sharp rapier and Miss Marlton's passionate heart.

"I accept." He lowered the flintlock until it pointed at the ground at his feet and was pleased to see the point of the rapier lift an inch or so from its target. It was hard not to stare at the stunningly beautiful woman laying in the soft grass, she held her torn bodice with one hand, but the rendered fabric still exposed part of one pale breast and nearly all of the other. Miss Marlton's wide eyes were filled with what looked like both anger and fear and he was acutely aware of how desperately they searched for hope in his.

Randy uncocked the hammer and lay the pistol on a fallen slab of stone switching his cutlass from his left hand to his right as he straightened back up with a nod. Almost like in a dance, the man took one step away from the lovely woman sprawled at his feet and flicked the steel blade of the court sword in an 'x' with a cruel grin on his face.

"Who the Hell are you?" The swordsman snarled confidently now that he was no longer staring into the half-inch bore of a pistol.

"Black Brand is how most people refer to me now." Randy tried to sound more confident than he felt. "Who are you, and why are you assaulting Lady Marlton?" In the course of his eighteen month stint on the New Bedford he had been trained to use the cutlass in weekly drills, but although he felt more than confident enough to repel the dark-skinned savages who might try to board the whaler as it watered in a island harbor he had never faced a swordsman in a duel like this.

"You may refer to me as My Lord." With an almost impossible quickness the man closed the gap between the two men and flicked the tip of his sword across Randy's woolen trousers just above his knee leaving a clean slice that cut into his skin. Before he could even start to swing the heavy cutlass his target had backed away with a sneer. "Why do you care about the affairs of those better than you, pig?" The gentleman asked, "This isn't your secret lover is it?"

Perhaps some hint of how he felt about Miss Charlotte crossed his face because suddenly the swordsman's attention turned back to Lady Marlton.

"You haven't been fucking this common outlaw, have you Charlie?" He laughed cruelly, "I'd be most disappointed in you."

Charlotte did not care one bit about Mr. Worthington's disappointment, but she found suddenly that she did care desperately that Mr. Fuller not be killed for her sake. From even just the initial pass it was clear that this brave soul was no match for Jason, and she could not bare to see him cut to shreds by the despicable man whom she once thought she might marry. Ignoring Jason's contemptible query she turned to Mr. Fuller and urged him to save himself.

"Run!" She half cried, half pleaded hoping that he would listen. To Jason it must have sounded like a confession because with a cry of anger he advanced on Mr. Fuller again who this time managed to parry the first thrust, but was fooled by a low feint was completely defenseless when Jason's rapier rolled over his clumsy block. Jason could have run Mr. Fuller through the chest right then and there, but instead he chose to pierce the bicep of his left arm. Charlotte saw a growing stain of red where the blade had struck, in a normal affair of honour this would have ended the duel, but Jason had no intention of stopping his fun.

"I'm going to enjoy this, 'Black Brand'. " Jason hissed viciously. "I'm going to poke so many holes in your worthless body that Lord Marlton could have your skin dried out and use you as a salt shaker." Another jab with the impossibly quick rapier left a bloody hole in Fuller's other leg. "And then, when you no longer have the strength to do anything about it, I'm going to fuck that bitch back there right in front of you. I'm going to ram her so hard she'll forget all about a peasant piece of shit like you." Charlotte could not believe how easily Jason's sword redirected Mr. Fuller's attack and once again watched in horror as his sword cut into Randy's arm.

In spite of Mr. Fuller's best efforts Jason was easily driving him backwards and soon her hero would be pinned against the old stone wall of the old sanctuary. Even to Charlotte's untrained eyes it was clear that the outcome of this duel was no longer in question. Any romantic notion she once had about men fighting for the right to claim her was irrevocably wiped away as she waited for the inevitable outcome. Instead of avoiding her fate she had only prolonged it for a few minutes - at the cost of Mr. Fuller's life.