'I am much in the wrong, sir, if the lady do not turn the command upon yourself. Until you have obeyed it, she may perhaps see reason for withdrawing it in respect of me.'
Richard stepped into the porch, but Dorothy glided between them, and gently pushed him out.
'Richard Heywood!' she said.
'Whew!' interjected the stranger, softly.
'You can claim no right,' she went on, 'to be here at this hour. Pray go; you will disturb my mother.'
'Who is this man, then, whose right seems acknowledged?' asked Richard, in ill-suppressed fury.
'When you address me like a gentleman, such as I used to believe you—'
'May I presume to ask when you ceased to regard me as a gentleman, mistress Dorothy?'
'As soon as I found that you had learned to despise law and religion,' answered the girl. 'Such a one will hardly succeed in acting the part of a gentleman, even had he the blood of the Somersets in his veins.'
'I thank you, mistress Dorothy,' said the stranger, 'and will profit by the plain hint. Once more tell me to go, and I will obey.'