"
As a matter of fact, he had really meant nothing more than the threat
and the insult, the situation permitting him a heavier hold upon his
wife and a new grip on Gerald in case he ever needed him; but threat and
insult were very real to the boy, and he knocked Mr. Ruthven flat on his
back--the one thing required to change that gentleman's pretence to
deadly earnest.
Ruthven scrambled to his feet; Gerald did it again; and, after that, Mr.
Ruthven prudently remained prone during the delivery of a terse but
concise opinion of him expressed by Gerald.
After Gerald had gone, Ruthven opened first one eye, then the other,
then his mouth, and finally sat up; and his wife, who had been curiously
observing him, smiled.
"It is strange," she said serenely, "that I never thought of that
method. I wonder why I never thought of it," lazily stretching her firm
young arms and glancing casually at their symmetry and smooth-skinned
strength. "Go into your own quarters," she added, as he rose, shaking
with fury: "I've endured the last brutality I shall ever suffer from
you.
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