Up she sprang, kicking her skirts as she always did when angered.

“Money! money!⁠—always money!” she cried. “I do not care one rap for it! And Richard is not wealthy!”

“Richard is heir to wealth,” replied his Grace calmly. “And even an you are so impervious to its charms, I, my dear, am not. Richard is extremely useful to me. I beg you will not leave him for any such mad rake as Lovelace, who would be faithful to you for perhaps three months, certainly not longer.”

“Tracy, I will not have you speak to me like this! How dare you insult me so? I have given you no cause! I did not say I had any desire to run away with him⁠—and he would be faithful to me! He has been faithful all these years!”

His Grace smiled provokingly.

“My dear⁠—!”