"Stop it."
"But how?" she asked. "Shall I speak?"
"No, no; leave it to me," he said. "I'll undertake to settle the matter. If you saw the Bishop, you'd only irritate him."
"He told me to go to bed, last night, after that woman had insulted me."
"Insulted you? I thought you told me she'd nothing to say for herself."
"Her presence was an insult, and one of us leaves this house to-day," replied his aunt, and swept out of the room.
Cecil gulped down his tea, and, ringing the bell, sent an urgent message to Miss Arminster, requesting a meeting in his aunt's boudoir, which, considering the purpose of the interview, he was sure Miss Matilda would not object to put at her disposal.
Violet received him in about twenty minutes, apologising for her charming tea-gown, on the ground of being somewhat seedy.
"Our supper last night was rather extraordinary, you know," she said.
"I've only heard one version," he replied.