If you are aggrieved by such a trifle--" "I am not.

If you doubt the sufficiency of my excuse for calling upon you, let me say at once that I come as the boy's guardian." "Upon my word--" "As his legal guardian." "Bah! This is too much! Do you conceive yourself to be jesting ?" "Have you ever known me to jest ?" "Not wilfully." "Not, at any rate, upon parchment.

Be so good as to run your eye over this." The little man took the copy of Silvanus Tellworthy's will and fumbled it between his fingers.
"Is this some dirty trick of lawyer's work ?" "It is." "Do you really wish me to read it ?" "Unless you prefer me to explain." "I do--vastly." "Very well, then." And Captain Runacles proceeded to explain the will in a hard, methodical voice, nodding his head whenever he reached a point of importance at the parchment which rustled between Captain Barker's fingers.

For a while this rustle sounded like the whisper of a gathering storm.
"It follows from this," concluded Captain Runacles, "that I am responsible for the child's upbringing.

Can you carry the reasoning a step farther ?" The little man looked up.