"That is very strange," she said.
"Strange?
"Yes. It is very strange because I am perfectly certain that you were."
He took up his cue and commenced chalking it in a leisurely manner.
"My dear young lady," he said, "you are; I understand, a friend of Mr.
Brooks, and are therefore entitled to some amount of consideration from
me. But I must respectfully remind you that your presence here is, to
put it mildly, unsought, and that I do not find it pleasant to be called
a liar under my own roof and before my friends."
"Pleasant!" she eyed him scornfully; "nor did my father find it pleasant
to be ruined and murdered by you, a debauched gambler, a common
swindler."
Lord Arranmore, unruffled, permitted himself to smile.
"Dear me," he said, "this is getting positively melodramatic. Brooks,
for her own sake, let me beg of you to induce the young woman to leave
us. In her calmer moments she will, I am sure, repent of these
unwarranted statements to a perfect stranger."
Brooks was numbed--for the moment speechless. Sybil had risen to her
feet as though with the intention of leaving the room.
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