CHAPTER VIII
COUNCIL AT WORSTED SKEYNES
It was on the following evening—the evening on which he was expecting his son and Mr. Paramor that the Squire leaned forward over the dining-table and asked:
“What do you say, Barter? I'm speaking to you as a man of the world.”
The Rector bent over his glass of port and moistened his lower lip.
“There's no excuse for that woman,” he answered. “I always thought she was a bad lot.”
Mr. Pendyce went on:
“We've never had a scandal in my family. I find the thought of it hard to bear, Barter— I find it hard to bear——”
The Rector emitted a low sound. He had come from long usage to have a feeling like affection for his Squire.