“There you go, Margery! D'you mean to say you believe what this fellow says? He ought to be horsewhipped. He knows my opinion of him.
“It's a piece of his confounded impudence! He nearly ran over me, and now——”
Mrs. Pendyce broke in:
“But, Horace, I'm afraid it's true! Ellen Malden——”
“Ellen Malden?” said Mr. Pendyce. “What business has she——” He was silent, staring gloomily at the plan of Worsted Skeynes, still unrolled, like an emblem of all there was at stake. “If George has really,” he burst out, “he's a greater fool than I took him for! A fool? He's a knave!”
Again he was silent.
Mrs. Pendyce flushed at that word, and bit her lips.
“George could never be a knave!” she said.
Mr. Pendyce answered heavily:
“Disgracing his name!”