"Come in! I have something to say to you. It is better said in-doors, where no passer-by can hear it."
Mechanically Squire Marlowe followed John Barton into the little sitting-room. Mrs. Barton looked up from her rocking-chair in surprise and apprehension, and half rose.
"Stay where you are, Mary," said her husband. "I wish you to hear what I am about to say to Albert Marlowe."
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
MR. BARTON DEFIES THE SQUIRE.
Squire Marlowe sat down, while John Barton, instead of quailing in his presence, eyed him with cool indifference.
"What is the meaning of this tomfoolery?" asked Albert Marlowe, uneasily.
"You may call it what you like, but the time has come for an explanation. Albert Marlowe, you have done me a cruel wrong. It is through you that I have had my name blackened and have been forced to fly from my country."