I was quite taken aback.
I felt my cheeks flushing. I was returning his fierce cold gaze with a stupid stare, and remained dumb.
'Yes, Maud, you have.'
I looked down in silence.
'I know it; but it is right you should answer; have you or have you not?'
I had to clear my voice twice or thrice. There was a kind of spasm in my throat.
'I am trying to recollect,' I said at last.
'Do recollect,' he replied imperiously.
There was a little interval of silence. I would have given the world to be, on any conditions, anywhere else in the world.
'Surely, Maud, you don't wish to deceive your guardian? Come, the question is a plain one, and I know the truth already. I ask you again—have you ever heard me spoken ill of by Lady Knollys?'