The Terror was also doing his best in the matter: with unbending firmness he prevented Erebus, eager to enjoy her uncle's society, from returning to the house till it was time to dress for dinner.

He wished to give his mother time to get over the worst of her annoyance.
Thanks to their efforts Mrs.Dangerfield did not rebuke her violent daughter with any great severity.

But even so, Erebus did not receive these milder rebukes in the proper meek spirit.

Unlike the philosophic Terror, who for the most part accepted his mother's just rebukes, after a doubtful exploit, with a disarming sorrowful air, Erebus must always make out a case for herself; and she did so now.
Displaying an injured air, she took the ground that Captain Baster was not really a guest on the previous evening, since he was making a descent on the house uninvited, and therefore he did not come within the sphere of the laws of hospitality.
"Besides he never behaved like a guest," she went on in a bitterly aggrieved tone.

"He was always making himself objectionable to every one--especially to me.