Damages,  five  thousand  pounds."

A  sigh  from  the  next  room  passed  unnoticed  by  the
men,  for  their  voices  were  now  raised  in  anger.
102  A  TERRIBLE  TEMPTATION.
"  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  accom-
modated 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  he  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.
"  Aha !  You  have  hurt  yourself  more  than  me.  Two
suits  against  you  now,  instead  of  one."

"  Conduct  this  person  from  the  house,"  said  Lady  Bas-
sett to  a  servant  who  entered  at  that  moment.
"All  right,  my  lady,"  said  Wheeler ;  "  I'U  remind  you
of  that  word  when  this  house  belongs  to  us."


A  TBRKIBLB  TEMPTATION.  103


CHAPTEE  X.
