The masquerades - Georgette Heyer

'The whole of this affair,' announced my lord in an awful voice, 'is deplorable in the extreme. It has been botched  and bungled in a manner passing my comprehension... My daughter, as I understand, is riding all over the country like a hoyden with a man who has not yet obtained my consent to be affianced to her. The impropriety of it leaves me speechless.'

'Instead of which,' said Robin, inspecting the lacing on one of his great cuffs, 'she might be lying snug in prison. Horrible sir.'