“Oh, it wasn’t him !” Mrs. Grose with emphasis declared. “It was Quint’s own fancy. To play with him, I mean⁠—to spoil him.” She paused a moment; then she added: “Quint was much too free.”

This gave me, straight from my vision of his face⁠— such a face!⁠—a sudden sickness of disgust. “Too free with my boy?”

“Too free with everyone!”