"'No trifling, Sir; my purpose is fixed; nor, by all that is sacred, will I be dissuaded from it! I will not be subjected to your control, or longer kept in awe by your pretensions!' "'I do not wish it,' I cried; 'all I ask, is that which, if not possessed by me, cannot devolve to you.' "She stamped with rage.--'The key, Sir; this moment give it me.' "'I have already told your Ladyship, I cannot--I will not yield it!' "Never before had my mother experienced such opposition from me. Her passions, already raised by the insinuations of Mallet, hurried her nearly to madness; she snatched a pen-knife from the table where I had been writing, her lips quivered as she grasped my arm--'Harry--if thou darest again refuse--thou forfeitest thy life!' "'Then take my life,' I cried; the tears starting to my eyes, and so agitated that I could scarcely speak; 'when a mother seeks to destroy it, what hand shall be raised for its preservation!--Yet think not by depriving me of existence, to secure your safety. A charge of lunacy may screen the action from the knowledge of the world; but there is an all-seeing eye, Lady Corbet, that would mark it, and make you for ever dread to meet the face of Heaven!' "She regarded me with an agitation, that too plainly showed the state of her mind, then cast me from her with violence, and hurled the knife to the further part of the room. I was hastening to secure it, when Mallet, either for the purpose of assisting her to search for the will, or from a motive of a darker nature, entered the chamber. He started on beholding me, and, with a well-counterfeited surprise, asked the reason of my being up at such an unseasonable hour? "'Where the assassin dwells,' I replied, 'it is requisite to watch, instead of sleeping!' "'Assassin!' he repeated as he advanced; when perceiving the knife in my hand--'What madness, Sir Henry, have you been attempting? A strait waistcoat I believe will soon terminate your nightly exploits!' "My mother here informed him of her finding me in the private room, and of my refusing to resign the key.--'A circumstance,' he significantly returned, 'at which I am not in the least surprised. Your Ladyship will most probably be very soon convinced, that the measures I advised were highly requisite.' "My mother regarded him with an expressive countenance, but was silent, and Mallet continued--'It is not yet too late to rectify the error; and as I know the necessity for it, I shall take the liberty of dispossessing Sir Henry of the means of future entrance to that apartment.' Then addressing me--'I have no time to lose in persuasion, young gentleman: if you do not peaceably resign the key, I shall use effectual means to obtain it!' "'Never from my hands shall you receive it,' I indignantly cried: 'nor whilst I have life will I part with it. I know the blackened purpose of your heart too well; but Corbet still has a friend, who will deliver him from your machinations.'