"She's ... she's a trollop, Rine!" Auntie Tine yelled, shrilly. "A common trollop! A trollop!"
"Christine!" cried Mrs. van Lowe. "Christine! Dorine!"
And she stood up and tottered, with outstretched arms, towards the two old sisters. But there was a loud scream and a laugh that cut into everybody like a knife: Constance had fainted in Paul's arms....
The boy, Addie, looked round with a haughty glance. He had heard everything, as had Van der Welcke, who stood listening apprehensively at the door of the boudoir. The son saw his father's deathly-pale face staring like a mask. He saw the horror of his grandmother and of all his uncles and aunts. He now saw his mother prostrate in a chair, her head hanging back, like a corpse. And his boyish lips, with their faint shading of down, curved into a scornful smile as he said:
"It's all about nothing!..."
[23] Enough of, have done with.
[24] To rake up old times.
[25] Fuss, unpleasantness.
[26] Hullo!
[27] Bad luck.