 hear is correct. I wish to
know, sir, whether the case you are conducting against his uncle is one you have
communicated to Captain Beauchamp. I repeat, I am here to inquire if he is privy
to it. You may hold family ties in contempt - Now, sir! I request you abstain
from provocations with me.«
    Dr. Shrapnel had raised his head, with something of the rush of a rocket,
from the stooping posture to listen, and his frown of non-intelligence might be
interpreted as the coming on of the fury Radicals are prone to, by a gentleman
who believed in their constant disposition to explode.
    Cecil made play with a pacifying hand. »We shall arrive at no understanding
unless you are good enough to be perfectly calm. I repeat, my cousin Captain
Beauchamp is more or less at variance with his family, owing to these doctrines
of yours, and your extraordinary Michael-Scott-the-wizard kind of spell you seem
to have cast upon his common sense as a man of the world. You have him, as you
say. I do not dispute it. I have no doubt you have him fast. But here is a case
demanding a certain respect for decency. Pray, if I may ask you, be still, be
quiet, and hear me out if you can. I am accustomed to explain myself to the
comprehension of most men who are at large, and I tell you candidly I am not to
be deceived or diverted from my path by a show of ignorance.«
    »What is your immediate object, sir?« said Dr. Shrapnel, chagrined by the
mystification within him, and a fear that his patience was going.
    »Exactly,« Cecil nodded. He was acute enough to see that he had established
the happy commencement of fretfulness in the victim, which is equivalent to a
hook well struck in the mouth of your fish, and with an angler's joy he prepared
to play his man. »Exactly. I have stated it. And you ask me. But I really must
decline to run over the whole ground again for you. I am here to fulfil a duty
to my family; a highly disagreeable one to me. I may fail, like the lady who
came here previous to the Election, for the result of which I am assured I ought
to thank your eminently disinterested services. I do. You recollect a lady
calling on you?«
    Dr. Shrapnel consulted his memory. »I think I have a recollection of some
lady calling.«
    »Oh! you think
