The last rag of Quinney's dignity fluttered away.
"I'll down you, my lad; yes, I will!"
"Self-preservation being the first law, sir, I must—sorely against the grain—down you first. Excuse plain speaking."
Quinney jumped up.
"I like plain speaking! I was weaned on it, short-coated on it! By Gum! my father damned me before I was born!"
"Easy all," murmured Tomlin nervously. He addressed James with a civility which the young man acknowledged with a faint smile. "Do I understand that you threaten to down your master because he refuses to sanction an engagement between you and his daughter?"
James shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a case of 'pull, devil—pull, baker!' I mean to pull for all I'm worth."
Quinney interrupted furiously:
"And what are you worth, Lord Rothschild?"