It was natural therefore, when his father received Lady Maulpin’s letter, for him to be highly suspicious.
“So why on earth should they come to you, Papa?” he had asked his father. “After all you have not even seen Sir Frederick for a long time.”
“Friendship does not depend upon time,” the Marquis said. “He was always such a very good friend to me and, however many years passed without our seeing each other, we always seemed to pick up the conversation where we had left off.”
“Of course I do understand,” the Earl agreed. “But Sir Frederick is one thing and his widow and daughter quite another.”
“But, of course, I must have them here,” the Marquis insisted. “How can I refuse?”
As he had no wish to upset his father, the Earl had not pressed his objections.
He had thought that if he sho
