“Yes, close to you, and you never even bowed to her.”
“I did not see her, ma’am.”
“Mrs. Earl spoke to you.”
“I didn’t hear her, ma’am.”
“I told you of it at the moment.”
“I didn’t understand you, ma’am.”
“Besides, ma’am,” interposed Dashwood, “as to Miss Earl, if she meant that my lord should bow to her, she should have curtsied first to him.”
“Curtsied first to him!”
“Yes, that’s the rule—that’s the thing now. The ladies are always to speak first.”
“I have nothing more to say, if that be the case. Lady Augusta, what say you to all this?”