OTTOLINE. [_To_ BERTRAM.] All your life you've been paltry, odious, detestable---- BERTRAM. Look heah----! OTTOLINE. But _this_! My God! For you--for any of us--to impugn the honesty of a man whose shadow we're not fit to walk in----! SIR RANDLE. [_To_ LADY FILSON_--pained._] Winifred----! OTTOLINE. [_To_ BERTRAM.] You--you--you're no better than your common, hired spy----! LADY FILSON. [_Rising and going to_ OTTOLINE.] My child, remember----! OTTOLINE. [_Clenching her hands and hissing her words at_ BERTRAM.] _C'est la verite! Tu n'es qu'une canaille--une vile canaille----!_ LADY FILSON. Control yourself, I _beg_! OTTOLINE. [_To_ LADY FILSON.] Leave me alone----! [_She passes_ LADY FILSON _and sits on the settee on the right with glittering eyes and heaving bosom._ PHILIP _has withdrawn to the fireplace and is standing looking into the fire._ LADY FILSON. [_To_ BERTRAM.] Bertie dear, I'm surprised at you! To do a thing like this behind our backs! BERTRAM. My dear mother, I knew that you and father wouldn't do it---- LADY FILSON. I should think not, indeed! SIR RANDLE. [_To_ BERTRAM.] Your mother and I! LADY FILSON. [_Horrified at the notion._] Oh! BERTRAM. Upon my word, this is rather rough! [_Walking away._] I mean to _say_----! PHILIP. [_Turning._] We mustn't be too hard on poor Bertram, Lady Filson---- BERTRAM. [_Pacing the room near the big doors._] Poor Bertram! Ho! SIR RANDLE. [_To_ PHILIP.] I trust we are never unduly hard on our children, my dear Philip---- PHILIP. To do him justice, he was most anxious to postpone these dreadful revelations till to-morrow---- BERTRAM. Exactly! [_Throwing himself into the chair between the big doors and the vestibule door._] I predicted a scene! I predicted a scene! PHILIP. [_To_ SIR RANDLE _and_ LADY FILSON, _penitently._] Perhaps it would have been wiser of me--more considerate--to have complied with his wishes. But I was in a fury--naturally---- LADY FILSON. [_Sitting on the settee on the left._] Naturally. SIR RANDLE. And excusably. I myself, in similar circumstances---- PHILIP.