Grace's reception had startled her.

She instinctively took the chair nearest to her to support herself.

Grace raised a warning hand for the second time, and issued another command: "I forbid you to be seated in my presence.

You have no right to be in this house at all.
Remember, if you please, who you are, and who I am." The tone in which those words were spoken was an insult in itself.

Mercy suddenly lifted her head; the angry answer was on her lips.