But at this moment Sir Charles broke out in a sort of dry,
business-like voice, "I'll kill the viper and his brood!" Then he
stared at Mr. Angelo, and could not make him out at first. "Ah!" said
he, complacently, "this is my private tutor: a man of learning. I read
Homer with him; but I have forgotten it, all but one line--
"[greek]
"That's a beautiful verse. Homer, old boy, I'll take your advice. I'll
kill the heir at law, and his brat as well, and when they are dead and
well seasoned I'll sell them to that old timber-merchant, the devil, to
make hell hotter. Order my horse, somebody, this minute!"
During this tirade Lady Bassett's hands kept clutching, as if to stop
it, and her eyes filled with horror.
Mr. Angelo came again to her rescue. He affected to take it all as a
matter of course, and told the servants they need not wait, Sir Charles
was coming to himself by degrees, and the danger was all over.
But when the servants were gone he said to Lady Bassett, seriously, "I
would not let any servant be about Sir Charles, except this one. She is
evidently attached to you. Suppose we take him to his own room."
He then made Mary Wells a signal, and they carried him upstairs.
Sir Charles talked all the while with pitiable vehemence. Indeed, it
was a continuous babble, like a brook.
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