'Are you going to speak to me, master?' he said, after a long silence.
'My worthy creature,' returned Mr Chester, 'you are a little ruffled and
out of humour. I'll wait till you're quite yourself again. I am in no
hurry.'
This behaviour had its intended effect. It humbled and abashed the man,
and made him still more irresolute and uncertain. Hard words he could
have returned, violence he would have repaid with interest; but this
cool, complacent, contemptuous, self-possessed reception, caused him to
feel his inferiority more completely than the most elaborate arguments.
Everything contributed to this effect. His own rough speech, contrasted
with the soft persuasive accents of the other; his rude bearing, and
Mr Chester's polished manner; the disorder and negligence of his
ragged dress, and the elegant attire he saw before him; with all the
unaccustomed luxuries and comforts of the room, and the silence that
gave him leisure to observe these things, and feel how ill at ease they
made him; all these influences, which have too often some effect on
tutored minds and become of almost resistless power when brought to bear
on such a mind as his, quelled Hugh completely.
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