She paused and then, as nobody seemed to have anything to say, she added,
“I am quite old enough to be married and I am prepared to marry the Marquis!”
The Earl looked at his daughter as if she was a young horse and he was considering her points.
“The question is,” he said heavily after a moment, “whether the Marquis would be prepared to marry you.”
“He cannot be very particular, Papa, for as far as we know, he has never noticed either Mirabel or Deirdre, so I imagine that any one of your daughters would be just as acceptable as another.”
The Countess drew in her breath.
“I still feel, George, that this is an insult! How can he write to you, asking to marry one of your daughters without approaching you in the proper manner first?”
“I have just explained to you that Falcon must have
