“Will it? Will it?” There was an insistent note in Eliphalet’s voice.
“Why not?”
“Would your obligation towards the young lady be fairly discharged if you did?”
“What obligation?”
“To be frank, Mr. Lennox, I understand you have made certain proposals—er—conditions to her—which I regret should have come from a member of my company.”
Sydney Lennox rose rather stiffly.
“I don’t admit your right to interfere in my private affairs, Mr. Cardomay. What I may choose to do or not to do is no possible concern of yours.”
“No?” came the mild rejoinder. “But it happens that I take a personal interest in this young lady.”
“Indeed?” said Lennox, then added unforgiveably, “First come, first served.”
One assumes that Sydney Lennox had played in his time many villains, for he deported himself throughout the offensive inspired by his previous remark, with a cynical calm little short of remarkable. Briefly and very much to the point Eliphalet Cardomay spoke his mind, and what he said could hardly have been pleasant hearing.