[The House by the Church-Yard by J. Sheridan Le Fanu]@TWC D-Link bookThe House by the Church-Yard CHAPTER XCII 9/10
One word from Doctor Sturk, Sir, will blast you, so soon as, please Heaven, he shall speak.' 'He _has_ spoken, Sir,' replied Lowe, whose angry passions were roused by the insults of Dangerfield, and who had, for the moment, lost his customary caution. 'Ha!' cried Dangerfield, with a sort of gasp, and a violent smirk, the joyousness of which was, however, counteracted by a lurid scowl and a wonderful livid glare in his wild eyes; 'ha! he has? Bravo, Sir, bravissimo!' and he smirked wider and wider, and beat his uninjured hand upon the table, like a man applauding the _denouement_ of a play.
'Well, Sir; and notwithstanding his declaration, you arrest me upon the monstrous assertion of a crazy clerk, you consummate blockhead!' ''Twon't do, Sir, you sha'n't sting me by insult into passion; nor frighten me by big words and big looks into hesitation.
My duty's clear, and be the consequences what they may, I'll carry the matter through.' 'Frighten you! ha, ha, ha!' and Dangerfield glared at his bloody shirt-sleeve, and laughed a chilly sneer; 'no, Sir, but I'll punish you, with Doctor Sturk's declaration against the babble of poor Zekiel Irons. I'll quickly close your mouth.' 'Sir, I never made it a practice yet to hide evidence from a prisoner. Why should I desire to put you out of the world, if you're innocent? Doctor Sturk, Sir, has denounced you distinctly upon oath.
Charles Archer, going by the name of Paul Dangerfield, and residing in this house, called the "Brass Castle," as the person who attempted to murder him in the Butcher's Wood.' '_What_, Sir? Doctor Sturk denounce _me_! Fore heaven, Sir--it seems to me you've all lost your wits.
Doctor Sturk!--? Doctor Sturk charge _me_ with having assaulted him! why--curse it, Sir--it can't possibly be--you can't believe it; and, if he said it, the man's raving still.' 'He has said it, Sir.' 'Then, Sir, in the devil's name, didn't it strike you as going rather fast to shoot me on my own hearth-stone--_me_, knowing all you do about me--with no better warrant than the talk of a man with a shattered brain, awakening from a lethargy of months? Sir, though the laws afford no punishment exemplary enough for such atrocious precipitation, I promise you I'll exact the last penalty they provide; and now, Sir, take me where you will; I can't resist.
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