“This does not concern you, sir!” he said. “And I can only imagine that, as my niece is here in the salon instead of being in the kitchen, which I understand is the position for which you employed her, she has learnt her standards of morality from her father or perhaps she was corrupted by the prostitute who gave her Ludgrove’s gun dog!”
The way he spoke was so insulting that Theresa felt that the Marquis would not tolerate anything so offensive and would order them both to leave the château immediately.
But when the Earl stopped speaking, the Marquis merely replied in a dry impersonal tone that made him seem not only authoritative but positively overwhelming.
“I cannot allow you, my Lord, even through ignorance to insult my wife.”
For a moment there was complete silence.
Then Theresa
