Nay, he was scared and showed it.
"My dear girl," he began.
"I'm not your dear girl," she flamed, "I will not accept your horrid patronage. I will not allow you to treat quite serious matters—matters that affect my life—as subjects for your amusement."
"My dearest——" he began but she stopped him.
She removed the half circle of diamonds from her finger with deliberation. She said nothing because she was choking.
She did not throw it at him, because she was a lady and had lived in Portland Place.
She laid it on the table and fled.
The Duke stood speechless and open mouthed; he did not behave like a hero.
Did Alicia behave like a heroine?
A study of contemporary fiction compels me to confess reluctantly that she did not.