t. The instant my back is turned, your's will be
turned too; and by the time I call again, your honour will be half way
to Calais. But--bless my stars, Mr. Pelham, is that you? I really did
not see you before; I suppose you are not in the secret?"

"I have no secrets from Mr. Pelham," said Glanville; "nor do I care
if you discuss the whole of your nefarious transactions with me in his
presence. Since you doubt my word, it is beneath my dignity to vindicate
it, and your business can as well be dispatched now, as hereafter. You
have heard rightly, that I intend leaving England to-morrow; and now,
Sir, what is your will?"

"By G--d, Sir Reginald Glanville!" exclaimed Thornton, who seemed stung
to the quick by Glanville's contemptuous coldness, "you shall not leave
England without my leave. Ay, you may frown, but I say you shall not;
nay, you shall not budge a foot from this very room unless I cry, 'Be it
so!'"

Glanville could no longer restrain himself. He would have sprung towards
Thornton, but I seized and arrested him. I read, in the malignant and
incensed countenance of his persecutor, all the danger to which a single
imprudence would have exposed him, and I trembled for his safety.

I whispered, as I forced him again to his seat, "Leave me alone to
settle with this man, and I will endeavour to free you from him." I did
not tarry for his answer; but turning to Thornton, said to him coolly
but civilly: "Sir Reginald Glanville has acquainted me with the nature
of your very extraordinary demands upon him. Did he adopt my advice, he
would immediately place the affair in the hands of his legal advisers.
His ill health, however, his anxiety to leave England, and his wish to
sacrifice almost every thing to quiet, induce him, rather than take
this alternative, to silence your importunities, by acceding to claims,
however illegal and unjust. If, therefore, you now favour Sir Reginald
with your visit, for the purpose of making a demand previous to his
quitting England, and which, consequently, will be the last to which
he will concede, you will have the goodness to name the amount of your
claim, and should it be reasonable, I think Sir Reginald will authorize
me to say, that it shall be granted."

"Well, now!" cried Thornton, "that's what I call talking like a sensible
man; and though I am not fond of speaking to a third person, when the
principal is present, yet as you have always been very civil to me, I
have no objectio