"Yes! The first Tietjens who came over with Dutch William, the swine, was pretty bad to the Papist owners. . . ."
"He was a tough Dutchman," Tietjens said, "but let us get on! There's enough time, but not too much. . . . I've got this man to see."
"Who is he?" Sylvia asked.
Tietjens was collecting his thoughts.
"My dear!" he said. "You'll permit me to call you 'my dear'? We're old enemies enough and we're talking about the future of our child."
Sylvia said:
"You said 'our' child, not 'the' child. . . ."
Tietjens said with a great deal of concern:
"You will forgive me for bringing it up. You might prefer to think he was Drake's child. He can't be. It would be outside the course of nature. . . . I'm as poor as I am because . . . forgive me . . . I've spent a great deal of money on tracing the movements of you and Drake before our marriage. And if it's a relief to you to know . . ."
"It is," Sylvia said. "I . . . I've always been too beastly shy to put the matter before a specialist, or even before mother. . . . And we women are so ignorant. . . ."