CHAPTER XXXI.
TWO KNAVES QUARREL—THE STARTLING CONFESSION.
Sir Andrew rose and walked about the room like a maniac.
The unfortunate cat came in his path, and that he kicked through the window, slammed the room door and was about to leave the house!
At that precise moment Phillip Redgill arrived, and there they stood gazing at each other in the hall like two beasts of prey.
“What doyouwant here, sir?” said old Sir Andrew, in a terrific rage. “Get out of my house, you penniless scamp. Get out of my house, you miserable intriguer! I curse the hour I ever saw you!”
“Sir!”
“Sir! Don’t ‘sir’ me, Mr. Redgill; this is no time for compliments, sir, and you know it. I want you to pay me what you owe me, sir, without any delay; the £15,000 which I have loaned you at different times! I want it, sir, paid up immediately, sir, and I’m bound to have it, too, or else——”
“Sir!” continued Phillip, astonished.
“Don’t stand there ‘siring’ me, Mr. Redgill; get out of my house this instant. I loathe the very air you breathe, and wish I’d never laid eyes on you.”
“Really, sir, and madam,” continued Phillip, addressing husband and wife, for the latter, attracted by the noisy altercation, had arrived upon the scene, “really I cannot understand what all this means. I really——”
“You can’t, eh? Well, come here, sir,” continued old Sir Andrew, entering the parlour again, and dancing about into every corner of it; “you can’t, eh? Then readthat, sir,” said he, throwing down the letter, “readthat, sir, and then get out of my house as quickly as possible.”
“Lost?” gasped Phillip.
“Lost, aye, lost! So areyou, and so amI, and so areallof us lost—down to the bottom, among the silks and teas.”
“This news, sir, is astounding!” said Phillip, looking very pale, and biting his nails. “The Skeleton Crew did it, eh? This almost unmans me, Sir Andrew.”
“Doesit? Well, then, sir, what mustIfeel, who have to bear nearly all the loss? You’ll oblige me, Phillip Redgill, by getting that money of yours together—I’ll stand no more delays. And I’d thank you never to set foot in my house again.”
“Really, Sir Andrew, your conduct is inexplicable! I came to see your daughter, my——”
“Youdid, did you? Ha, ha! he, he! But let me tell you, sir, thatbeforeshe should beyourwife, I would rather see her in——.”
“Sir Andrew, dear,” interrupted Lady McTurk, getting in between the two angry gentlemen. “Husband, dear, be calm, I pray!”
“Go away, wife, I know what I’m saying well enough. And let me tell you, sir, that I do not want the honour of your presence in my premises any longer; I don’t allow penniless, good-for-nothing vagabonds to prowl aroundmyhouse! Come to court my daughter, eh? Ha, ha! Whoever heard of such a thing? Whatnext, I wonder?”
“I do not come tocourtyour daughter, sir; I come to claim her as my——”
“Capital! capital! To claim her as your——Ah, ah! capital! capital! Who ever heard of such impudence in all their life?” said Sir Andrew, dancing about like a half-crazed monkey. “Get out of my house, sir, I tell you for the last time—get out, or I’ll kick you out!”
And acting up to his words, he was about to put his threat into execution, when Fanny, his daughter, rushed upon the scene, blooming in paints, crinoline, and flowers.
“Father, dear, hear me!” she said, falling on her knees between her parent and Phillip. “Hear me, father, dear! Pity me! pardon him if he has offended you! Formysake, forgive—pardon my—my—husband! Father, dear, I—am—his—wife!”
“Hiswhat?” gasped Sir Andrew, as if shot, looking first at his daughter and then at Phillip. “His what, did you say?”
“Hiswife, father dear. Pardon me, I am hiswife!”
Sir Andrew looked at Phillip for a moment with an eye full of devilish meaning.
That young gentleman advanced a few steps, and said very coolly,
“Wife! Yes, Sir Andrew, my wife! If you doubt it, read that,” he added, throwing down on the table the marriage certificate.
Sir Andrew glanced at it for a second with a quivering lip, then sank upon the sofa, and groaned with the intense weight of agony oppressing him.
Like dutiful children Phillip and his wife approached and knelt before the astonished, half-petrified father, while the mother was in hysterics in the back ground.
“You needn’t ask any blessing from me,” swore Sir Richard, rising, and rudely shoving the couple from him. “Blessing! What next? Daughter! you have made a fool of yourself; and, as for you, Phillip, you have had my blessing already, and will continue to receive it every day of your existence. As, of course, you did not marry for money, and have plenty of your own, I should feel extremely obliged if you’d pay all you owe me, Mr. Redgill, and take yourself and your bride out of my house just as quickly as possible, for another meal neither of you will ever eat under my roof. John, show this gentleman to the door,” he added, putting on his hat, and rushing into the street.