Thanks Mrrzy,

If as we believe NAKED implies unarmed in this context LD is keeping his head and saying;
"I won't be accused of MURDER but we will fight a duel to resolve this".
Which would be a legitimate chivalric response to such a event.

Also in Little Musgrave (as I remember it) there's a sequence after the challenge where they leave the bedroom and go down the hall/stairs (?) which would lend further strength it being a duel (trial by combat) rather than a killing "in hot blood".

AndyG