Excerpt: Reputation

The door opened before he had finished climbing the front steps to reach it, the familiar face of its unyielding butler blocking the entranceway.
“Beg pardon, sir, I must inform you that the ladies of the house are not receiving today,” he began, only to be stopped by Charles’ outstretched hand.
“I do not care what you have been told to say, Edgerton, nor what you have been given as a reason. I am entering this house today, at this time. Countess Westmorland and my fiancée will see me, whether they wish to or not. I suggest you step aside, man, because while I have no wish to cause you harm, I will not hesitate to use force if necessary.”
Edgerton carefully considered Mr. Hutton’s person. He was dressed, obviously, for whatever activity he had been involved in the night before, with his greatcoat tossed over the ensemble in an incongruous manner. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, his face unshaven, and his shoes badly scuffed. As a lifelong servant who had started out as a valet, Edgerton found that to be the most telling sign of the dire state Mr. Hutton felt himself to be in.