"I don't know, sir," he faltered, suddenly abashed. The C.O. had a marvellous knack of making people feel small. "Of course, I was drunk, sir."
"Yes but—why were you drunk?"
This was persistency.
"I—I don't know, sir."
The Marquis wished the C.O. would shift his tactics. This quiet enquiry was terrible.
"It's time you dropped it, Humphries. It does you no good. And it's not playing the game with your people."
A sudden pallor came upon the Marquis. He looked like a man trapped.
"My—people, sir?"
"Yes, your people. Everyone knows you're a gentleman born, Humphries—of good family."
The Marquis breathed again.