First his homely appearance, and now a certain languor about his manner, discouraged Lady Bassett more than it need; for all artists must pay for their excitements with occasional languor. Her hands trembled, and she began to gulp and try not to cry.
Mr. Rolfe observed directly, and said, rather kindly, “You are agitated; and no wonder.”
He then opened a sort of china closet, poured a few drops of a colorless liquid from a tiny bottle into a wine-glass, and filled the glass with water from a filter. “Drink that, if you please.”
She looked at him with her eyes brimming. “Must I?”
“Yes; it will do you good for once in a way. It is only Ignatia.”
She drank it by degrees, and a tear along with it that fell into the glass.
Meantime Mr. Rolfe had returned to his notes and examined them. He then addressed her, half stiffly, half kindly:
“Lady Bassett, whatever may be your husband's condition—whether his illness is mental or bodily, or a mixture of the two—his clandestine examination by bought physicians, and his violent capture, the natural effect of which must have been to excite him and retard his cure, were wicked and barbarous acts, contrary to God's law and the common law of England, and, indeed, to all human law except our shallow, incautious Statutes de Lunatico: they were an insult to yourself, who ought at least to have been consulted, for your rights are higher and purer than Richard Bassett's; therefore, as a wife bereaved of your husband by fraud and violence and the bare letter of a paltry statute whose spirit has been violated, you are quite justified in coming to me or to any public man you think can help your husband and you.” Then, with a certain bonhomie, “So lay aside your nervousness; let us go into this matter sensibly, like a big man and a little man, or like an old woman and a young woman, whichever you prefer.”
Lady Bassett looked at him and smiled assent. She felt a great deal more at her ease after this opening.
“I dare not advise you yet. I must know more than Mr. Angelo has told me. Will you answer my questions frankly?”