"I must say I'm surprised," she said unwillingly as it seemed, and turned to the letter again.
"It's beyond everything," he went on angrily. "'This treatment must stop'—what is it that he says? Haven't I always deferred to him at Hayslope, because he's my elder brother, and lately I've been sorry for him? What on earth can he mean by writing to me like that? What treatment, I should like to know! I've spent thousands of pounds on his property, and should never have got a penny of it back if it hadn't been for Hugo's death. His position on his own ground! What have I ever done to belittle it?"
She looked up again. "I thought you did consult him about the garden," she said.
"Of course I did. I've never left anything of that sort undone, though under the circumstances in which we stand to one another most men wouldn't have expected it. But I know what he is where his rights are concerned."
"But didn't he give his consent?"
Sir William hesitated. "After that letter, I suppose one has to say that he didn't. But you can see how it was. There was absolutely no reason for his withholding it. I practically told him I was going to do it, and he put forward some objections, which I met. He didn't press them, and I went away thinking it was all understood. If you like to say so, perhaps I didn't ask his permission at all. It would have seemed absurd to do so."
"I am very sorry that he has taken it like this. Of course his letter is unreasonable, but I think it is only meant to assert his rights. He doesn't mean to stop you going on."
"Oh, I'm not going on in the face of that. I shall wire to Coombe to stop the work. Besides, he does mean that, doesn't he? Let me read it again."
She handed over the letter. Her face was disturbed. "I don't think Cynthia can have seen it before it was sent," she said.
"There's nothing about going on. I'm told that I've overstepped my rights, and 'this sort of treatment must now stop.' And fancy writing this! 'I think there's a touch of vulgarity in it.' Vulgarity! It's a most offensive letter. One would say that he was laying himself open to quarrel with me. I'm not going to quarrel with him; but I shall be precious careful not to give him a handle against me again."