I stared at her, mouth agape.
"If I have offended——" I began.
"I may as well tell you," she interrupted me again, "that I have no personal liking or disliking for anything you have said or done in my presence. But I have heard that about you which will make me have no inclination for your company."
"And I shall ask you to tell me what that is," I retorted with mounting indignation. "It is not fair that you should accept the slurs of an enemy behind my back."
She hesitated.
"That may be so," she admitted, "but you will be willing to answer me two questions?"
"Surely."
"You are Captain Ormerod, formerly chamberlain to King James II?"
"Yes."
"And you not long ago abandoned the King's service and fruitlessly sought a pardon in London?"