"Not while you look at me like that. Do you know, papa, that you have forgotten to kiss me, or even shake hands; and that is a thing I never saw you guilty of before."
Clara drew close to the haughty man, and turning her mouth into a half-open apple-blossom, held it up to be kissed.
The earl put her aside gently, but with firmness.
"Go to Lady Hope, as I bade you," he said. "This is no hour for trifling."
Clara stood motionless. All the color had left her face, even to the lips.
"Papa, are you in earnest?"
"In earnest? Yes."
"And you mean to refuse this gentleman?"
"Undoubtedly I mean to refuse that gentleman."
There was an emphasis of fine irony laid on the last word, which Hepworth felt with a sting of indignation; but he controlled himself, in respect to Clara's presence, and stood aloof, pale and stern as the man before him.