"You are certainly the boldest man in England."
"As you are the most utterly abandoned and unscrupulous woman. I can only die once. But I am not going to die before I see you and your hellspawn all hanged."
"Why don't you denounce me now?"
"Madam, I never did care for unripe fruit. The pear is ripening on the tree, and I will pluck it when the time comes."
Tchigorsky pushed the window of the morning room open and laid his burden down on a couch.
Almost immediately Rupert Ravenspur, followed by Mrs. Gordon and Geoffrey, came into the room. Ralph was already there. Geoffrey proceeded to explain and make the necessary introduction.
"And who is this gentleman?" Rupert Ravenspur demanded, his eye on Tchigorsky.
"A friend of mine," Ralph put in, "Dr. Tchigorsky."
Ravenspur bowed, not that he looked overpleased.
"Permit me to place my hospitality at your disposal," he said. "It is many years since we entertained at Ravenspur, nor do we, in ordinary circumstances, desire them. At present I cannot do less than make you welcome. Madame, I regret that your curiosity should have ended so disastrously."