Cashel's pupils frequently requested him to hit them hard--not to
play with them--to accustom them to regular, right down, severe
hitting, and no nonsense. He only pretended to comply; for he knew
that a black eye or loosened tooth would be immoderately boasted of
if received in combat with a famous pugilist, and that the
sufferer's friends would make private notes to avoid so rough a
professor. But when Miss Carew's note reached him he made an
exception to his practice in this respect. A young guardsman, whose
lesson began shortly after the post arrived, remarked that Cashel
was unusually distraught. He therefore exhorted his instructor to
wake up and pitch into him in earnest. Immediately he received a
blow in the epigastrium that stretched him almost insensible on the
floor. Rising with his complexion considerably whitened, he
recollected an appointment which would prevent him from finishing
his lesson, and withdrew, declaring in a somewhat shaky voice that
that was the sort of bout he really enjoyed.
Cashel did not at first make any profitable use of the leisure thus
earned. He walked to and fro, cursing, and occasionally stopping to
read the letter. His restlessness only increased his agitation. The
arrival of a Frenchman whom he employed to give lessons in fencing
made the place unendurable to him. He changed his attire, went out,
called a cab, and bade the driver, with an oath, drive to Lydia's
house as fast as the horse could go. The man made all the haste he
could, and was presently told impatiently that there was no hurry.
Accustomed to this sort of inconsistency, he was not surprised when,
as they approached the house, he was told not to stop but to drive
slowly past. Then, in obedience to further instructions, he turned
and repassed the door. As he did so a lady appeared for an instant
at a window. Immediately his fare, with a groan of mingled rage and
fear, sprang from the moving vehicle, rushed up the steps of the
mansion, and rang the bell violently. Bashville, faultlessly dressed
and impassibly mannered, opened the door. In reply to Cashel's
half-inarticulate inquiry, he said, "Miss Carew is not at home."
"You lie," said Cashel, his eyes suddenly dilating. "I saw her."
Bashville reddened, but replied, coolly, "Miss Carew cannot see you
to-day."
"Go and ask her," returned Cashel sternly, advancing.
Bashville, with compressed lips, seized the door to shut him out;
but Cashel forced it back against him, sent him reeling some paces
by its impact, went in, and shut the door behind him. He had to turn
from Bashville for a moment to do this, and before he could face him
again he was clutched, tripped, and flung down upon the tessellated
pavement of the hall.