“What have I done that I should be publicly insulted?” I cried.
“Insulted!” says he, “and did she insult you? She said nothing of that.”
“What brings you here, then?” I demanded.
“Not to talk, Richard,” he said quietly, “'tis no time tonight. I came to fetch you home. Patty sent me.”
Patty sent him! Why had Patty sent him? But this I did not ask, for I felt the devil within me.
“We must first finish this bottle,” said I, offhand, “and then I have a little something to be done which I have set my heart upon. After that I will go with you.”
“Richard, Richard, will you never learn prudence? What is it you speak of?”
I drew my sword and laid it upon the table.
“I mean to spit that eel of a rector,” said I, “or he will bear a slap in the face. And you must see fair play.”
Singleton seized my coat, at the same time grasping the hilt of my sword with the other hand. But neither my words nor my action had gone unnoticed by the other end of the room. The company there fell silent awhile, and then we heard Captain Collinson talking in even, drawling tones.