"Miss Chressham is in an independent position, madam."
"Is your brother, Captain Lyndwood?"
She tossed the name at him with an indescribable air of insolence and insult; he drew a deep breath.
"I think we will not speak of him."
"Why not? He has cost you somewhat, your marriage did him good service."
"The best service I ever rendered Marius," interrupted my lord, "was when I prevented him from making you his wife, madam."
The Countess quivered.
"That was an unconscious favour," she cried. "You married me for my money, for nothing else."
"For nothing else," he repeated, his attitude unchanged, his voice unaltered. "What other reason, madam, should I have had?"
She pressed her hands to her tight bodice.