‘I shall not spare him nor you.’
‘Then you shall take the consequences. I will proclaim you to be the villain that you are; will tear you from your present exalted station, and will send you back to your former poverty and rags. You shall be dispossessed. You shall disgorge the rents and all that you have improperly acquired. You—’
He merely laughed at her, mockingly and rudely, which exasperated her beyond all bounds.
‘Begone, sir! You shall not remain here another second to insult me. Begone! or—’
He only laughed more loudly and mockingly than before. Instantly her rage passed into fury which seemed uncontrollable.
‘Begone!’ she cried again, snatching up a sharp-pointed paper knife and rushing on him with so much intention that Sir Rupert precipitately retired. She followed him downstairs with a wild shriek, little recking how completely she was playing into his hands.
The butler had just admitted several other visitors, who heard and saw all that passed. Sir Rupert went up to them apparently for protection, but his first words showed that he was eager for more than this.
‘Gentlemen, you have arrived most opportunely. You can see for yourselves. It is clearly not safe to leave her any longer at large.’
The butler had quelled poor Lady Farrington almost instantly, but although he held her back she was still furious and foamed at the mouth.
‘Scarcely. We cannot refuse the certificate,’ said Mr. Burkinshaw, of Bootle, a local magistrate and magnate. ‘Sir Henry quite agrees with me, and the doctors have no manner of doubt. Poor woman, she ought clearly to be put under restraint.’