Fiercely he flung the words.  He was quivering with passionate indignation.  But the effect on Tudor was scarcely perceptible.  He only looked a little colder, a little more satirical, than was his wont.

“Well?” he said.  “What of it?”

Piers showed his teeth momentarily.  His hands were hard gripped behind him, as though he restrained himself by main force from open violence.

“You don’t deny it?” he said.

“Why should I?” Tudor’s thin lips displayed a faint sneer.  “I certainly advised your grandfather to go away, and I think the advice was sound.”

“It was—­from your point of view.”  A tremor of fierce humour ran through Piers’ speech.  “But plans—­even clever ones—­don’t always turn out as they should.  This one for instance—­what do you think you are going to gain by it?”

“What do you mean?” Tudor stood by the table facing Piers, his attitude one of supreme indifference.  He seemed scarcely to feel the stormy atmosphere that pulsated almost visibly around the younger man.  His eyes behind their glasses were cold and shrewd, wholly emotionless.

Piers paused an instant to grip his self-control the harder, for every word he uttered seemed to make his hold the more precarious.

“I’ll tell you what I mean,” he said, his voice low and savagely distinct.  “I mean that what you’ve done—­all this sneaking and scheming to get me out of your way—­isn’t going to serve your purpose.  I mean that you shall swear to me here and now to give up the game during my absence, or take the consequences.  It is entirely due to you that I am going, but—­by Heaven—­you shall reap no advantage from it!”

His voice rose a little, and the menace of it became more apparent.  He bent slightly towards the man he threatened.  His eyes blazed red and dangerous.  Tudor stood his ground, but it was impossible any longer to ignore Piers’ open fury.  It was like the blast of a hurricane hurled full against him.  He made a slight gesture of remonstrance.

“My good fellow, all this excitement is utterly uncalled for.  The advice I gave your grandfather would, I am convinced, have been given by any other medical man in the country.  If you are not satisfied with it, you had better get him to have another opinion.  As to taking advantage of your absence, I really don’t know what you mean, and I think if you are wise you won’t stop to explain.  It’s getting late and if you don’t value your night’s rest, I can’t do without mine.  Also, I think when the morning comes, you’ll be ashamed of this foolery.”

He spoke with studied coldness.  He knew the value of a firm front when facing odds.  But he did not know the fiery soul of the man before him, or realize that contempt poured upon outraged pride is as spirit poured upon flame.

He saw the devil in Piers’ eyes too late to change his tactics.  Almost in the same moment the last shred of Piers’ self-control vanished like smoke in a gale.  He uttered a fearful oath and sprang upon Tudor like an animal freed from a leash.