"Really, your Ladyship, am I to understand you to imply——"
"I can only say that I have heard your name associated with my daughter's in a manner—that was not—quite as I could wish. Dear Lady Wintern, a woman most interested in the good of her friends, spoke to me herself, and of course you, as a man of honour and a gentleman——"
"As a man of honour and a gentleman, I deeply regret that anything in my conduct should have led to a misconception in regard to my relations with Lady Isabelle, and in the future——"
"In the future, Mr. Stanley, you will of course see little or nothing of my daughter—unless——"
She paused, and for a moment neither spoke. Then the Secretary, who, whatever else may be said of him, was not a coward, seeing what was impending, determined to face the situation and have it over as soon as possible.
"Am I to understand," he inquired, "that you're asking me my intentions?"
Her Ladyship raised her eyebrows. If the French shoulder is expressive, the English eye-brow, feminine, speaks volumes.
"You do not make the situation easy for me," she replied. "Of course I speak only for myself. What my daughter may feel——"
"You don't suppose," he exclaimed, "that Lady Isabelle really thinks——"
"I know, Mr. Stanley, that my daughter thinks nothing and does nothing that would not be proper in a young lady of her position."