Then he looked me up and down with insolent
eyes.
"Look here, Ned," said he, "time was when an English family could
settle their own affairs in their own way.
What has this foreign fellow got to do with your sister and my
wife?"
"Sir," said I, "permit me to point out to you that this is not a
case merely of a sister or a wife, but that I am the friend of
the lady in question, and that I have the privilege which every
gentleman possesses of protecting a woman against brutality. It
is only by a gesture that I can show you what I think of you." I
had my riding glove in my hand, and I flicked him across the face
with it. He drew back with a bitter smile and his eyes were as
hard as flint.
"So you've brought your bully with you, Ned?" said he. "You
might at least have done your fighting yourself, if it must come
to a fight."
"So I will," cried Lord Rufton. "Here and now."
"When I've killed this swaggering Frenchman," said Lord Dacre.
He stepped to a side table and opened a brass-bound case.
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