"And to whom, sir, pray, was my son married?" demanded Lady Alice, after a long pause.
"To my sister, madam."
Lady Alice gaped at him in astonishment.
"Was she a person at all his equal in life?—a person of—of any education, I mean?" inquired Lady Alice, with a gasp, sublimely unconscious of her impertinence.
"As good a lady as you are," replied Varbarriere, with a swarthy flush upon his forehead.
"I should like to know she was a lady, at all events."
"She was a lady, madam, of pure blood, incapable of a mean thought, incapable, too, of anything low-bred or impertinent."
His sarcasm sped through and through Lady Alice without producing any effect, as a bullet passes through a ghost.
"It is a great surprise, sir, but that will be satisfactory. I suppose you can show it?"
Varbarriere smiled sardonically and answered nothing.