Gregory, meanwhile, had not moved.
His gaze remained fixed on Anthony, and Penelope could see the effort it was taking him to maintain his expression.
The sudden intervention did not merely interrupt his performance, but deprived him of the final moment he had intended to secure, the moment in which he would have stood above her and graciously accepted whatever further humiliation he could extract.
Worse, Anthony had done it without raising a hand or uttering a single discourteous word. Obviously, he'd not challenged Gregory's honour or accused him of cruelty. He had not even suggested that Penelope's anger at the modiste had been justified.
He simply treated the matter as too insignificant to warrant Gregory's continued attention, which had been done so before an audience.
For a man who clearly valued his standing, that was a particularly elegant form of punishment.
