I wrote a letter, calling him what
he is."
"No, sir; that letter is a libel."
"It is the truth."
"It is a malicious libel, sir; and we shall punish you for it. I hereby
serve you with this copy of a writ. Damages, five thousand pounds."
A sigh from the next room passed unnoticed by the men, for their voices
were now raised in anger.
"And so that is what you came here for. Why did you not go to my
solicitor? You must be as great a blackguard as your client, to serve
your paltry writs on me in my own house."
"Not blackguard enough to insult a gentleman in my own house. If you
had been civil I might have accommodated matters; but now I'll make you
smart--ugh!"
Nothing provokes a high-spirited man more than a menace. Sir Charles,
threatened in his wife's hearing, shot out his right arm with
surprising force and rapidity, and knocked Wheeler down in a moment.
In came Lady Bassett, with a scream, and saw the attorney lying doubled
up, and Sir Charles standing over him, blowing like a grampus with rage
and excitement.
But the next moment be staggered and gasped, and she had to support him
to a seat. She rang the bell for aid, then kneeled, and took his
throbbing temples to her wifely bosom.
Wheeler picked himself up, and, seated on his hams, eyed the pair with
concentrated fury.
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