"Let me hear what he has to say," said Sir Hugh.
"Lady Ongar thought that it might be well that her sister should leave Clavering for a short time, and has offered to go anywhere with her for a few weeks. That is all."
"And why the devil should Hermione leave her own house? And if she were to leave it, why should she go with a woman that has misconducted herself?"
"Oh, Hugh!" exclaimed Lady Clavering.
"Lady Ongar has never misconducted herself," said Harry.
"Are you her champion?" asked Sir Hugh.
"As far as that, I am. She has never misconducted herself; and what is more, she has been cruelly used since she came home."
"By whom; by whom?" said Sir Hugh, stepping close up to his cousin and looking with angry eyes into his face.
But Harry Clavering was not a man to be intimidated by the angry eyes of any man. "By you," he said, "her brother-in-law;—by you, who made up her wretched marriage, and who, of all others, were the most bound to protect her."
"Oh, Harry, don't, don't!" shrieked Lady Clavering.