“Do you really think so, Daumon?”
“Yes, and I will show you what is done every day. Nothing is more common in noble families. Would you like to be a soldier?”
“No, I do not care for that, and yet——”
“That is your last resource, Marquis. First, then, we could lay a plaint before the court.”
“A plaint?”
“Certainly. Do you suppose that our laws do not provide for such a case as a father exceeding the proper bounds of parental authority? Tell me, has the Duke, your father, ever struck you?”
“Never once.”
“Well, that is almost a pity. We will say that your father’s property is worth two millions, and yet you derive so slight a benefit from this that you are known everywhere as the ‘Young Savage of Champdoce’!”
Norbert started to his feet.
“Who dares speak of me like that?” said he furiously. “Tell me his name.”