enjoying yourself, sir?' said Ralph, at length.

'Pratty nigh for the prasant time, sir,' replied John.

'I can wait,' said Ralph. 'Take your own time, pray.'

Ralph waited until there was a perfect silence, and then turning to Mrs
Nickleby, but directing an eager glance at Kate, as if more anxious to
watch his effect upon her, said:

'Now, ma'am, listen to me. I don't imagine that you were a party to a
very fine tirade of words sent me by that boy of yours, because I don't
believe that under his control, you have the slightest will of your own,
or that your advice, your opinion, your wants, your wishes, anything
which in nature and reason (or of what use is your great experience?)
ought to weigh with him, has the slightest influence or weight whatever,
or is taken for a moment into account.'

Mrs Nickleby shook her head and sighed, as if there were a good deal in
that, certainly.

'For this reason,' resumed Ralph, 'I address myself to you, ma'am. For
this reason, partly, and partly because I do not wish to be disgraced by
the acts of a vicious stripling whom I was obliged to disown, and who,
afterwards, in his boyish majesty, feigns to--ha! ha!--to disown ME, I
present myself here tonight. I have another motive in coming: a motive
of humanity. I come here,' said Ralph, looking round with a biting and
triumphant smile, and gloating and dwelling upon the words as if he
were loath to lose the pleasure of saying them, 'to restore a parent his
child. Ay, sir,' he continued, bending eagerly forward, and addressing
Nicholas, as he marked the change of his countenance, 'to restore a
parent his child; his son, sir; trepanned, waylaid, and guarded at every
turn by you, with the base design of robbing him some day of any little
wretched pittance of which he might become possessed.'

'In that, you know you lie,' said Nicholas, proudly.

'In this, I know I speak the truth. I have his father here,' retorted
Ralph.

'Here!' sneered Squeers, stepping forward. 'Do you hear that? Here!
Didn't I tell you to be careful that his father didn't turn up and send
him back to me? Why, his father's my friend; he's to come back to me
directly, he is. Now, what do you say--eh!--now--come--what do you say
to that--an't you sorry you took so much trouble for nothing? an't you?
an't you?'

'You bear upon your body certain marks I gave you,' said Nicholas,
looking quietly away, 'and may talk in acknowledgment of them as much
as you please.