ctical man, his objection lay against the poor fool's choice of the
peccant borough of Bevisham. Still, in view of the needfulness of his
learning wisdom, and rapidly, the disbursement of a lot of his money,
certain to be required by Bevisham's electors, seemed to be the surest
method for quickening his wits. Thus would he be acting as his own
chirurgeon, gaily practising phlebotomy on his person to cure him of his
fever. Too much money was not the origin of the fever in Nevil's case,
but he had too small a sense of the value of what he possessed, and the
diminishing stock would be likely to cry out shrilly.

To this effect, never complaining that Nevil Beauchamp had not come to
him to take counsel with him, the high-minded old gentleman talked. At
the same time, while indulging in so philosophical a picture of himself
as was presented by a Romfrey mildly accounting for events and smoothing
them under the infliction of an offence, he could not but feel that
Nevil had challenged him: such was the reading of it; and he waited for
some justifiable excitement to fetch him out of the magnanimous mood,
rather in the image of an angler, it must be owned.

'Nevil understands that I am not going to pay a farthing of his expenses
in Bevisham?' he said to Mrs. Culling.

She replied blandly and with innocence, 'I have not seen him, sir.'

He nodded. At the next mention of Nevil between them, he asked, 'Where
is it he's lying perdu, ma'am?'

'I fancy in that town, in Bevisham.'

'At the Liberal, Radical, hotel?'

'I dare say; some place; I am not certain....'

'The rascal doctor's house there? Shrapnel's?'

'Really... I have not seen him.'

'Have you heard from him?'

'I have had a letter; a short one.'

'Where did he date his letter from?'

'From Bevisham.'

'From what house?'

Rosamund glanced about for a way of escaping the question. There was
none but the door. She replied, 'From Dr. Shrapnel's.'

'That's the Anti-Game-Law agitator.'

'You do not imagine, sir, that Nevil subscribes to every thing the
horrid man agitates for?'

'You don't like the man, ma'am?'

'I detest him.'

'Ha! So you have seen Shrapnel?'

'Only for a moment; a moment or two. I cannot endure him. I am sure I
have reason.'

Rosamund flushed exceedingly red. The visit to Dr. Shrapnel's house was
her secret, and the worming of it out made her feel guilty, and that
feeling revived and heated her antipathy to the Radical doctor.

'W