Hitherto, a stranger might have believed that Hermione's unfavorable picture of her father had been tinged by a high-spirited girl's hatred of the marriage which he was forcing upon her; but that fleeting expression spoke volumes.

If Count Vassilan was of the bovine order, the Earl of Valletort savored of the tiger.
He contrived to smile, however, and the effort to figure wholly as a disconsolate parent cost him far more than he dreamed, since he examined neither the actual certificate nor the register, though both would have been submitted to his scrutiny by the bewildered Mr.Hughes.
"Thank you," he said.

"I fully appreciate the position.

The scoundrel has learnt how to give an English sound to his name.

Probably my daughter taught him.