? ? ? ? I needed but the sound of his voice to be so madly enraged as I never was before, and never have been since.
? ? ? ? 'You villain,' said I, 'what do you mean by entrapping me into your schemes? How dare you appeal to me just now, you false rascal, as if we had been in discussion together?'
? ? ? ? As we stood, front to front, I saw so plainly, in the stealthy exultation of his face, what I already so plainly knew; I mean that he forced his confidence upon me, expressly to make me miserable, and had set a deliberate trap for me in this very matter; that I couldn't bear it. The whole of his lank cheek was invitingly before me, and I struck it with my open hand with that force that my fingers tingled as if I had burnt them.
? ? ? ? He caught the hand in his, and we stood in that connexion, looking at each other. We stood so, a long time; long enough for me to see the white marks of my fingers die out of the deep red of his cheek, and leave it a deeper red.
? ? ? ? 'Copperfield,' he said at length, in a breathless voice, 'have you taken leave of your senses?'
? ? ? ? 'I have taken leave of you,' said I, wresting my hand away.
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