Captain Palliser turned and involuntarily stared at him. What was the fellow getting at?
“I'm afraid I don't quite understand,” he said.
The new Temple Barholm looked quite serious. He did not, amazing to relate, look like a fool even when he gave forth his extraordinary question. It was his almost business-like seriousness which saved him.
“I mean, do you call them Lady Lucy and Lady Amabel?” he answered.
If he had been younger, less hardened, or less finished, Captain Palliser would have laughed outright. But he answered without self-revelation.
“Oh, I see. You were asking whether the family is a titled one. No; it is a good old name, quite old, in fact, but no title goes with the estate.”
“Who are the titled people about here?” Tembarom asked, quite unabashed.
“The Earl of Pevensy at Pevensy Park, the Duke of Stone at Stone Hover, Lord Hambrough at Doone. Doone is in the next county, just over the border.”
“Have they all got daughters?”
Captain Palliser found it expedient to clear his throat before speaking.