Page:Paul Clifford Vol 3.djvu/205

Rh tradesman—I beg pardon, a retired tradesman!—as if that knowledge,—a knowledge I would strangle my whole race, every one who has ever met, seen me, rather than they should penetrate, were not enough, when she talks of 'comparing,'—to make me gnaw the very flesh from my bones! No, no, no! Never was there so bright a turn in my fate, as when this titled coxcomb with his smooth voice and gaudy fripperies came hither! I will make her the tool to carve me out of this cavern wherein she has plunged me. I will foment 'my Lord's' passion, till 'my Lord' thinks 'the passion,'—(a butterfly's passion!)—worth any price. I will then make my own terms—bind my Lord to secrecy, and get rid of my wife, my shame, and the solicitorship of Mr. Welford, for ever. Bright, bright prospects! let me shut my eyes to enjoy you! But softly, my noble friend calls himself a man of the world, skilled in human nature, and a derider of its prejudices; true enough, in his own little waythanks not to enlarged views, but a vicious experienceso he is! The book of the world is a vast miscellany; he is perfectly well acquainted, doubtless, with