In this state he hastily gulped down two or three large glasses of Madeira, which was his favorite wine, and he felt his system more intensely strung.
"That woman," said he, alluding to Lady Gourlay, "has taken her revenge by destroying my son.

There can be no doubt of that.

And what now prevents me from crushing this viper forever?
If my daughter were not with me, it should be done; yes, I would do it silently and secretly, ay, and surely, with my own hand.

I would have blood for blood.

What, however, if the mur--if the act came to light! Then I must suffer; my daughter is involved in my infamy, and all my dreams for her aggrandizement come to worse than nothing.