Chapter TwoThere was what seemed to be a long silence.
Then Gerald said,
“Do you know what you are saying?”
“Of course I do,” the Earl replied, “and it is sheer common sense!”
“I think it’s the most absurd, the most outrageous suggestion I have ever heard!” Gerald asserted slowly.
The Earl shrugged his shoulders.
“Very well,” he said, “you have the choice. You can each of you go your own way, but let me make it clear that I will not raise a finger to help either of you.”
He walked towards the door.
Then Olivia said in a voice that did not sound like her own,
“Can we – please have – time to think about it?”
For a moment the Earl hesitated and she thought that he was going to refuse her.
Then he said,
“You can give me your decision this evening and I absolutely refuse to listen t
