He saw his own rashness, he saw
how his actions could be construed till they cast a slur even on the man
he defended; he saw how legally he was in error, how legally the
gallant vengeance of an indignant friendship might be construed into
consciousness of guilt in the accused for whose sake the vengeance fell.
He stood silent, overwhelmed with the intensity of his own passion,
baffled by the ingenuity of a serpent-wisdom he could not refute.
Ezra Baroni saw his advantage. He ventured to raise himself slightly.
"My lord, since your faith in your friend is so perfect, send for him.
If he be innocent, and I a liar, with a look I shall be confounded."
The tone was perfectly impassive, but the words expressed a world. For
a moment the Seraph's eyes flashed on him with a look that made him
feel nearer his death than he had been near to it in all his days; but
Rockingham restrained himself from force.
"I will send for him," he said briefly; in that answer there was more of
menace and of meaning than in any physical action.
He moved and let Baroni rise; shaken and bruised, but otherwise little
seriously hurt, and still holding, in a tenacious grasp, the crumpled
paper. He rang; his own servant answered the summons.
"Go to the Stephanien and inquire for Mr. Cecil. Be quick; and request
him, wherever he be, to be so good as to come to me instantly--here."
The servant bowed and withdrew; a perfect silence followed between these
two so strangely assorted companions; the Seraph stood with his back
against the mantelpiece, with every sense on the watch to catch every
movement of the Jew's, and to hear the first sound of Cecil's approach.
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