“I have told you,” Fenella answered, “to say ‘goodbye’.”
Nicholas walked to the fireplace and, putting down his stick, steadied himself against the mantelpiece.
“Fenella,” he said, “I am not being unreasonable, but you cannot trust that chap. I have heard a lot of stories about him lately and they are not particularly pleasant ones.”
“I should not bother to repeat them to me,” Fenella replied. “As you know, I am very fond of Rex and nothing you could say against him would be likely to prejudice me.”
She tried to speak steadily, but the colour rose in her cheeks and the words came from between lips that were trembling.
“Are you so dense that you cannot understand the type of man he is?” Nicholas asked. “He is a womaniser. He has run after every woman in this neighbourhood for years and
