But stay, go thou to my room and fetch thence the strong whip wherewith I chastise the unruly hounds.

Those who disobey like dogs must be beaten like dogs.
"But, an thou wilt swear to do my bidding in the future, and avoid all pestilent controversy with those false scions of thy house, thy chastisement shall be light.

Defy me, and thou shalt feel the full weight of my arm as thou hast never felt it before." Petronella had never seen her father so angry in all her life before.

True, he had always been a harsh, stern man, an unloving father, a captious tyrant in his own house.

But there had been limits to his anger.