Still with his finger to his neck, as if he would have liked to loosen his collar, Mr. Patterson went on, yet a little huskily:
"Luckily I didn't get at you, because I'll do worse than kill you, now."
"I thank you for your kind intentions, sir. You have not yet told me what I have done to deserve them."
"You've been getting at that girl of mine again."
"You use unpleasant phrases, sir. I'm afraid you have been drinking."
"You young swine! In spite of what I told you, last night you took her out with you again to dinner."
"Premising that I don't see why you should so resent my showing little courtesies to members of your family, may I ask on what grounds your statement is based?"
"You young word-twister! You've your father's tongue. Do you deny it?"
"It's for you to prove; not for me to disprove."
"A man came to me on the front this morning and said that he saw my daughter dining last night in Jermyn Street with a young man. He described the fellow; from his description I knew that it was you. If I could have got at you then and there I'd have broken my stick across your back! I'd have--I'd have---- Are you going to tell a lie, and say it wasn't you?"
"It was. Why not? We had a most agreeable evening, much more agreeable, perhaps, than you have any notion of. Possibly, if you ask Gladys, she herself will tell you so."
"Steady--go slow! If you don't take care you'll have a fit--you know you have been drinking."
Possibly because he had given way to such a sudden access of rage, Mr. Patterson again went through all his former disagreeable physical experiences, while his nephew smiled. He sat inarticulate and gasping, incapable alike of speech or movement. When, after a prolonged interval, the faculty of speech returned, his voice had grown huskier than ever; he spoke slowly, with a pause between each word.
"All right, my lad--laugh, but you won't laugh last. You're not going to put me in the cart, as your swindler of a father did; I'm going to put you there. I warned you what would be the result of your attempting to have any more traffic with my girl, so you've yourself to thank for whatever happens."
He stopped, as if he found a difficulty in saying much at once. When he continued, while his tones were a little clearer, they were more bitter.