“You’re no gentleman,” declared the Duchess, “or you wouldn’t behave to a lady in this way.”
“I was never what you may call a society man,” said the detective. “You seem to have got a rare old little snide factory here all to yourself.”
“I beg your pardon!” said the Duchess icily.
“Carried on nice and quiet too, apparently. No show, no display, no what you may call arrogance about it.”
“What is this person talking about, Bobbie, my dear?”
“Ast him,” said Bobbie, his eyes fixed on the partially-closed door.
“This your boy, ma’am?”
“Are you addressing your conversation to me, sir?”
“Who does the kid belong to?”
“This lad,” said the Duchess, precisely, “is, I regret to say, an orphan. I took some interest in his case, and my husband and myself have, so to speak, adopted him.”