"You
don't think I am going to suffer Maude's children to be domineered over
by a wretch of a step-mother--perhaps poisoned."
He confronted her in his wrath, his eyes flashing.
"Madam!"
"Oh, you need not 'Madam' me. Maude's gone, and I shall act for her."
"I ask you where my children are?"
"I have sent them away; you may make the most of the information. And
when I have remained here as long as I choose, I shall take them with me,
and keep them, and bring them up. You can at once decide what sum you
will allow me for their education and maintenance: two maids, a tutor,
a governess, clothes, toys, and pocket-money. It must be a handsome sum,
paid quarterly in advance. And I mean to take a house in London for their
accommodation, and shall expect you to pay the rent."
The coolness with which this was delivered turned Val's angry feelings
into amusement. He could not help laughing as he looked at her.
"You cannot have my children, Lady Kirton."
"They are Maude's children," snapped the dowager.
"But I presume you admit that they are likewise mine. And I shall
certainly not part with them."
"If you oppose me in this, I'll put them into Chancery," cried the
dowager. "I am their nearest relative, and have a right to them."
"Nearest relative!" he repeated. "You must have lost your senses. I am
their father."
"And have you lived to see thirty, and never learnt that men don't count
for anything in the bringing up of infants?" shrilly asked the dowager.
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