Not above two or three times in his life could he remember to have exceeded the bounds of strict, temperate sobriety.

The fact was, he was in wrath with himself: all his past follies were pressing upon him with bitter condemnation.

He was just in that frame of mind when an object to vent our fury upon becomes a sort of necessity; and Mr.Elster's was vented on his brother.
He was waiting at boiling-point for the opportunity to "have it out" with him: and it soon came.

As the gentlemen left the dining-room--and in these present days they do not, as a rule, sit long, especially when the host is a young man--Percival Elster touched his brother to detain him, and shut the door on the heels of the rest.
Lord Hartledon was surprised.

Val's attack was so savage.