have written to this woman, then?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"I believe you lie."

"He does not lie; and he is as good as yourself, and better, Richard
Avenel," exclaimed Mrs. Fairfield; "and I won't stand here and hear him
insulted--that's what I won't. And as for your fifty pounds, there are
forty-five of it; and I'll work my fingers to the bone till I pay back
the other five. And don't be afeared I shall disgrace you, for I'll
never look on your face agin; and you're a wicked bad man--that's what
you are."

The poor woman's voice was so raised and so shrill, that any other and
more remorseful feeling which Richard might have conceived, was drowned
in his apprehension that she would be overheard by his servants--a
masculine apprehension, with which females rarely sympathize; which, on
the contrary, they are inclined to consider a mean and cowardly terror
on the part of their male oppressors.

"Hush! hold your infernal squall--do!" said Mr. Avenel in a tone that he
meant to be soothing. "There--sit down--and don't stir till I come back
again, and can talk to you calmly. Leonard, follow me, and help to
explain things to our guests."

He stood still, but shook his head slightly.

"What do you mean, sir?" said Richard Avenel, in a very portentous
growl. "Shaking your head at me? Do you intend to disobey me? You had
better take care!"

Leonard's front rose; he drew one arm round his mother, and thus he
spoke:

"Sir, you have been kind to me and generous, and that thought alone
silenced my indignation when I heard you address such language to my
mother: for I felt that, if I spoke, I should say too much. Now I speak,
and it is to say shortly that"--

"Hush, boy," said poor Mrs. Fairfield frightened; "don't mind me. I did
not come to make mischief, and ruin your prospex. I'll go!"

"Will you ask her pardon, Mr. Avenel?" said Leonard, firmly; and he
advanced towards his uncle.

Richard, naturally hot and intolerant of contradiction, was then
excited, not only by the angry emotions which, it must be owned, a man
so mortified, and in the very flush of triumph, might well experience,
but by much more wine than he was in the habit of drinking; and when
Leonard approached him, he misinterpreted the movement into one of
menace and aggression. He lifted his arm: "Come a step nearer," said he
between his teeth, "and I'll knock you down." Leonard advanced that
forbidden step; but as Richard caught his eye, there was som