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The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
Book, page 61 / 300


to; if tenderness is the order of the day, it's for the son to
show it, not me. Ay, now, Mr. Berryl,' cried he, as Mr. Berryl
took up the bond to sign it, 'you're beginning to know I'm not a
fool to be trifled with. Stop your hand, if you choose it, sir
--it's all the same to me; the person, or the money, I'll carry
with me out of this house.'

Mr. Beryl signed the bond, and threw it to him.

'There, monster!--quit the house!'

'Monster is not actionable--I wish you had called me rascal,'
said Mordicai, grinning a horrible smile; and taking up the bond
deliberately, returned it to Mr. Berryl. 'This paper is worth
nothing to me, sir--it is not witnessed.'

Mr. Berryl hastily left the room, and returned with Lord
Colambre. Mordicai changed countenance and grew pale, for a
moment, at sight of Lord Colambre.

'Well, my lord, since it so happens, I am not sorry that you
should be witness to this paper,' said, he; 'and indeed not sorry
that you should witness the whole proceeding; for I trust I shall
be able to explain to you my conduct.'

'I do not come here, sir,' interrupted Lord Colambre, 'to listen
to any explanations of your conduct, which I perfectly
understand;--I come to witness a bond for my friend Mr. Berryl,
if you think proper to extort from him such a bond.'

'I extort nothing, my lord. Mr. Berryl, it is quite a voluntary
act, take notice, on your part; sign or not, witness or not, as
you please, gentlemen,' said Mordicai, sticking his hands in his
pockets, and recovering his look of black and fixed
determination.

'Witness it, witness it, my dear lord,' said Mr. Berryl, looking
at his mother and weeping sisters; 'witness it, quick!'

'Mr. Berryl must just run over his name again in your presence,

 
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