They were all three of them holding glasses in their hands and there was an empty bottle of claret on the desk and another that was only a quarter full.
The Earl knew that it was the best claret that they had drunk at luncheon, which together with his disgust at the scene before him, added insult to injury.
For a moment he just stood in the doorway staring, as if he could hardly believe his eyes.
Then Major Richardson said in what was undoubtedly a slurred voice,
“D’you want me, my Lord?”
As he spoke he made an effort to rise from the armchair, unbalancing as he did so the woman on his knee so that she upset over her gown the glass of claret she was holding in her hand.
“Be careful what you’re doin’!” she shrieked in a vulgar manner.
The Earl walked a little farther into the room. T
