A Terrible Temptation (Fiscle Part 3), Charles Reade [good story books to read .txt] 📗
- Author: Charles Reade
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Inflamed By A Public Trial. Is There No Personal Sacrifice By Which I
Can Compensate The Affront You Have Received, Without Compromising Sir
Charles Bassett's Veracity, Who Is The Soul Of Honor?
"I Am, Yours Obediently,
"Bella Bassett."
She Posted This Letter, And Richard Bassett Had No Sooner Received It
Than He Mounted His Horse And Rode To Wheeler's With It.
That Worthy's Eyes Sparkled. "Capital!" Said He. "We Must Draw Her On,
And Write An Answer That Will Read Well In Court."
He Concocted An Epistle Just The Opposite Of What Richard Bassett, Left
To Himself, Would Have Written. Bassett Copied, And Sent It As His Own.
"Lady Bassett--I Thank You For Writing To Me At This Moment, When I Am
Weighed Down By Slander. Your Own Character Stands So High That You
Would Not Deign To Write To Me If You Believed The Abuse That Has Been
Lavished On Me. With You I Deplore This Family Feud. It Is Not Of My
Seeking; And As For This Lawsuit, It Is One In Which The Plaintiff Is
Really The Defendant. Sir Charles Has Written A Defamatory Letter,
Which Has Closed Every House In This County To His Victim. If, As I Now
Feel Sure, You Disapprove The Libel, Pray Persuade Him To Retract It.
The Rest Our Lawyers Can Settle,
"Yours Very Respectfully,
"Richard Bassett."
When Lady Bassett Read This, She Saw She Had An Adroit Opponent. Yet
She Wrote Again:
Part 3 Chapter 11 Pg 89"Mr. Bassett--There Are Limits To My Influence With Sir Charles. I Have
No Power To Make Him Say One Word Against His Convictions.
"But My Lawyer Tells Me You Seek Pecuniary Compensation For An Affront.
I Offer You, Out Of My Own Means, Which Are Ample, That Which You
Seek--Offer It Freely And Heartily; And I Honestly Think You Had Better
Receive It From Me Than Expose Yourself To The Risks And Mortifications
Of A Public Trial.
"I Am, Yours Obediently,
"Bella Bassett."
"Lady Bassett--You Have Fallen Into A Very Natural Error. It Is True I
Sue Sir Charles Bassett For Money; But That Is Only Because The Law
Allows Me My Remedy In No Other Form. What Really Brings Me Into Court
Is The Defense Of My Injured Honor. How Do You Meet Me? You Say,
Virtually, 'Never Mind Your Character: Here Is Money.' Permit Me To
Decline It On Such Terms.
"A Public Insult Cannot Be Cured In Private.
"Strong In My Innocence, And My Wrongs, I Court What You Call The Risks
Of A Public Trial.
"Whatever The Result, _You_ Have Played The Honorable And Womanly Part
Of Peacemaker; And It Is Unfortunate For Your Husband That Your Gentle
Influence Is Limited By His Vanity, Which Perseveres In A Cruel
Slander, Instead Of Retracting It While There Is Yet Time.
"I Am, Madam, Yours Obediently,
"Richard Bassett."
"Mr. Bassett--I Retire From A Correspondence Which Appears To Be
Useless, And Might, If Prolonged, Draw Some Bitter Remark From Me, As
It Has From You.
"After The Trial, Which You Court And I Deprecate, You Will Perhaps
Review My Letters With A More Friendly Eye.
"I Am, Yours Obediently,
"Bella Bassett."
Part 3 Chapter 11 Pg 90In This Fencing-Match Between A Lawyer And A Lady Each Gained An
Advantage. The Lawyer's Letters, As Might Have Been Expected, Were The
Best Adapted To Be Read To A Jury; But The Lady, Subtler In Her Way,
Obtained, At A Small Sacrifice, What She Wanted, And That Without
Raising The Slightest Suspicion Of Her True Motive In The
Correspondence.
She Announced Her Success To Mr. Oldfield; But, In The Midst Of It, She
Quaked With Terror At The Thought Of What Sir Charles Would Say To Her
For Writing To Mr. Bassett At All.
She Now, With The Changeableness Of Her Sex, Hoped And Prayed Mr.
Bassett Would Admit The Anonymous Letter, And So All Her Subtlety And
Pains Prove Superfluous.
Quaking Secretly, But With A Lovely Face And Serene Front, She Took Her
Place At The Assizes, Before The Judge, And Got As Near Him As She
Could.
The Court Was Crowded, And Many Ladies Present.
_Bassett V. Bassett_ Was Called In A Loud Voice; There Was A Hum Of
Excitement, Then A Silence Of Expectation, And The Plaintiff's Counsel
Rose To Address The Jury.
Part 3 Chapter 12 Pg 91
"May It Please Your Lordship: Gentlemen Of The Jury--The Plaintiff In
This Case Is Richard Bassett, Esquire, The Direct And Lineal
Representative Of That Old And Honorable Family, Whose Monuments Are To
Be Seen In Several Churches In This County, And Whose Estates Are The
Largest, I Believe, In The County. He Would Have Succeeded, As A Matter
Of Course, To Those Estates, But For An Arrangement Made Only A Year
Before He Was Born, By Which, Contrary To Nature And Justice, He Was
Denuded Of Those Estates, And They Passed To The Defendant. The
Defendant Is Nowise To Blame For That Piece Of Injustice; But He
Profits By It, And It Might Be Expected That His Good Fortune Would
Soften His Heart Toward His Unfortunate Relative. I Say That If
Uncommon Tenderness Might Be Expected To Be Shown By Anybody To This
Part 3 Chapter 12 Pg 92Deserving And Unfortunate Gentleman, It Would Be By Sir Charles
Bassett, Who Enjoys His Cousin's Ancestral Estates, And Can So Well
Appreciate What That Cousin Has Lost By No Fault Of His Own."
"Hear! Hear!"
"Silence In The Court!"
_The Judge._--I Must Request That There May Be No Manifestation Of
Feeling.
_Counsel._--I Will Endeavor To Provoke None, My Lord. It Is A Very
Simple Case, And I Shall Not Occupy You Long. Well, Gentlemen, Mr.
Bassett Is A Poor Man, By No Fault Of His; But If He Is Poor, He Is
Proud And Honorable. He Has Met The Frowns Of Fortune Like A
Gentleman--Like A Man. He Has Not Solicited Government For A Place. He
Has Not Whined Nor Lamented. He Has Dignified Unmerited Poverty By
Prudence And Self-Denial; And, Unable To Forget That He Is A Bassett,
He Has Put By A Little Money Every Year, And Bought A Small Estate Or
Two, And Had Even Applied To The Lord-Lieutenant To Make Him A Justice
Of The Peace, When A Most Severe And Unexpected Blow Fell Upon Him.
Among Those Large Proprietors Who Respected Him In Spite Of His Humbler
Circumstances Was Mr. Hardwicke, One Of The County Members. Well,
Gentlemen, On The 21st Of Last May Mr. Bassett Received A Letter From
Mr. Hardwicke Inclosing One Purporting To Be From Sir Charles Bassett--
_The Judge._--Does Sir Charles Bassett Admit The Letter?
_Defendant's Counsel_ (After A Word With Oldfield).--Yes, My Lord.
_Plaintiff's Counsel._--A Letter Admitted To Be Written By Sir Charles
Bassett. That Letter Shall Be Read To You.
The Letter Was Then Read.
The Counsel Resumed: "Conceive, If You Can, The Effect Of This Blow,
Just As My Unhappy And Most Deserving Client Was Rising A Little In The
World. I Shall Prove That It Excluded Him From Mr. Hardwicke's House,
And Other Houses Too. He Is A Man Of Too Much Importance To Risk
Affronts. He Has Never Entered The Door Of Any Gentleman In This County
Since His Powerful Relative Published This Cruel Libel. He Has Drawn
His Spartan Cloak Around Him, And He Awaits Your Verdict To Resume That
Place Among You Which Is Due To Him In Every Way--Due To Him As The
Heir In Direct Line To The Wealth, And, Above All, To The Honor Of The
Bassetts; Due To Him As Sir Charles Bassett's Heir At Law; And Due To
Him On Account Of The Decency And Fortitude With Which He Has Borne
Adversity, And With Which He Now Repels Foul-Mouthed Slander."
"Hear! Hear!"
"Silence In The Court!"
"I Have Done, Gentlemen, For The Present. Indeed, Eloquence, Even If I
Part 3 Chapter 12 Pg 93Possessed It, Would Be Superfluous; The Facts Speak For
Themselves.--Call James Hardwicke, Esq."
Mr. Hardwicke Proved The Receipt Of The Letter From Sir Charles, And
That He Had Sent It To Mr. Bassett; And That Mr. Bassett Had Not
Entered His House Since Then, Nor Had He Invited Him.
Mr. Bassett Was Then Called, And, Being Duly Trained By Wheeler,
Abstained From All Heat, And Wore An
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