“That would be a nasty mess, wouldn’t it, Sir?” said Peter.
“Not such a nasty mess as my daughter being held up in all the newspapers as an adulteress!”
“Oh, John!” cried Lady Alard—“what a dreadful thing to say before the girls!”
“Doris is old enough to hear the word now if she’s never heard it before, and Jenny—she’s Emancipated, and a great deal older than you and me. I tell you I object to my daughter being placarded in the penny papers as an adulteress, and I’d much rather she proved Julian an adulterer.”
“Is that possible, sir?” asked Peter.
“Of course it is—the man’s been on the loose for a year.”
“If that’s all your evidence——”
“Well, I haven’t had him followed by detectives, but I can turn a few on now, and——”
“Really, Sir, I do agree with Mary that it would be better to leave the matter alone. An undefended case can be slipped through the papers with very little fuss, while if you have a defence, to say nothing of a cross-petition ... it isn’t as if she particularly wanted to keep Julian as a husband—I expect she’s glad to have the chance of getting rid of him so easily.”
“I daresay she is. I daresay she wants to marry that old ass Charles Smith. But what about her reputation?—what about ours? I tell you I’m not going to stand still and have filth thrown at me by the press. I’m proud of my name if you aren’t.”