"He had cause," responded Colonel Baskerville. "My half-brother, Lord Bellingham, objected violently and unreasonably to your father's marriage, and it cannot be denied that he ill-treated your mother under this very roof."
Archy, whose temper was quick, and who knew how to make a prompt resolve, and then to act upon it, stood still and silent for a moment; then, turning to the door, began to fumble at the intricate fastening of the chain, saying, quietly,
"How do you get out of this place, sir?"
"Highty-tighty," replied Colonel Baskerville, good-humoredly; "what are you trying to do?"
"To get away from here," said Archy. "I think, sir, that when a man has ill-treated my mother, I ought not to stay one moment in that man's house."
"But wait. Lord Bellingham ill-treated every member of his family who dared to marry without consulting his lordship. His only daughter married Captain Langton, a gentleman of character and fortune; but Lord Bellingham, who wanted to marry her off to a duke in his dotage, never forgave her."
"That is another reason why I should not stay in the house of such an old curmudgeon," responded Archy, with spirit.
"But you will, one day, be Lord Bellingham."
"No, I won't—or, rather, I can't—for I am an American."