Then, as if he remembered that was not why he had come to find her, he added, “You can come home now, and if Sirius behaves himself in the future I will spare him.”
His change of tone was so surprising that Diona gave an audible gasp.
Then, as if he could not bear to keep silent any longer, Simon cried, “What Papa is saying is that now that you are an heiress, you can pay for Sirius yourself and your father’s bills!”
“Be quiet, Simon!” Sir Hereward shouted.
He turned his head to reprove his son, and in doing so he seemed to become aware of the Marquis for the first time, for he held out his hand to say, “Forgive me, my Lord, for intruding upon you unexpectedly, but I only learnt late last night that my extremely undisciplined niece had come here.”
The Marquis ignored Sir Hereward’s ou
