Page:The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (emended first edition), Volume 2.djvu/196

186 "There is nothing the matter with you," returned I, "except what you have wilfully brought upon yourself against my earnest exhortation and entreaty."

"Now, Helen," said he, emphatically, half rising from his recumbent posture, "if you bother me with another word, I'll ring the bell and order six bottles of wine—and, by Heaven, I'll drink them dry before I stir from this place!"

I said no more but sat down before the table and drew a book towards me.

"Do let me have quietness at least!" continued he, "if you deny me every other comfort," and sinking back into his former position, with an impatient expiration between a sigh and a groan, he languidly closed his eyes as if to sleep.

What the book was, that lay open on the table before me, I cannot tell, for I never looked at it. With an elbow on each side of it, and my hands clasped before my eyes, I