“Would you rob me of mine own, Sirrah?� he asked more calmly if not less irritatingly.
“I might do so, and with justice,� I replied. “You had no hesitation in robbing the living or the dead.�
“Zounds!� cried the other man, touched on the raw of a guilty conscience apparently, “’twas in fair play. We risked each what we had and Sir Geoffrey lost.�
“Yes, I see,� I replied. “Having paid you with everything else, and possessing nothing beside, he had to throw away his life in the end. I heard what you said. You wonder how Mistress Wilberforce is to learn the situation—you who have doubtless once borne the reputation of a man of honor! You wonder who is to tell her that you discard her. I will.�
“That is good, well thought of, yokel,� said the drawler with amazing assurance, and keeping his temper in a way that increased mine, “I could not have wished it better. As for your reflections upon me they interest me not at all. You are doubtless some servant of the house—�
“I am no man’s servant,� I interrupted in some heat.
“Somebody born on the place who probably cherishes a peasant’s humble admiration for the lady of the manor,� he continued.
I displayed the red ensign in my weather-beaten cheeks at this. I never was good at the dissimulation that goes on in polite society and I never could control my color for all I am bronzed with the wind and spray of all the seas, to say nothing of tropic suns.
“Ah,� he laughed sneeringly, taking keen note of my confusion, “see the red banner of confession in the brute’s face, Lord Luftdon.�
“I see it, of course,� said the other, whose frowning face was far redder than my own, though from drink—“but I must confess that personally I don’t like the allusion.�