"But you will? You cannot let it pass?"
"No, Mrs. Forrester. I will not let it pass."
"You will insist that he shall make a full apology to Mercedes?"
"Is he to apologise to her for hating her?" Karen at this asked suddenly.
"For hating her? What do you mean?" Mrs. Forrester was taken aback.
"If he is to apologise," said Karen, in a still colder, still more lifeless voice, "it must be for something that can be changed. How can he apologise to her for hating her if he continues to hate her?"
"He can apologise for having spoken insultingly to her."
"He has not done that. It was Tante who overheard what she was not intended to hear. And it was Tante who spoke with violence."
"It amazes me to hear you put it on her shoulders, Karen. He can apologise, then, for what he has said to me," said Mrs. Forrester with indignation. "You will not deny that what he said of her to me was insulting."
"He is to tell her that he has said those words and then apologise, Mrs. Forrester? Oh, no; you do not think what you say."