Mrs. Belassis glared at him with an expression of vindictive malice, not often so openly displayed in polite society.
‘You shall rue this bitterly, Philip Debenham!’ she hissed, in a whisper which only he and Mrs. Lorraine could hear. ‘You shall have good cause to know that I am not to be insulted with impunity.’
Tor smiled and bowed in his haughty careless fashion, and led Mrs. Lorraine away.
All this had passed so rapidly, that people were yet exchanging whispered comments upon the wording of the strange will.
Miss Marjory, of course, had plenty to say, and it was not her custom to whisper.
‘It’s the most ridiculous will I ever heard in my life!’ she exclaimed, with an emphatic gesture of contempt. ‘It’s positively idiotic! People are very odd, and there’s no accounting for tastes; but really this is beyond everything. Philip Debenham, I believe you could get the whole thing upset in a court of law. The man must have been mad when he drew it up. I should dispute it if I were you.’
Mr. and Mrs. Belassis looked pinched and blue, despite the warmness of the evening. The Signor seemed listening with the most profound interest to every word that was spoken.
Maud gave Tor a look of half-impatient entreaty, and he interposed to say to Belassis:
‘Have you anything more to add, before my sister registers her decision?’
‘I have a letter written by her dear dead father, whom that lady has thought fit——’ Here Miss Marjory turned suddenly round and looked him full in the face. The effect was instantaneous. The words died away into silence, and he concluded feebly enough: ‘A letter to Maud—from her father. Will you read it, my dear?’