'I contented myself with taking away his weapon,' said the Marquis;
'and he wished for nothing better than to poke about in the gutters
for insects; it was only Redgie that teased him into the nobler
sport.'
Emily was inclined to make a serious matter of the accident, but her
cousin said ten words while she said one, and by the time her first
sentence was uttered, she found him talking about his ride to
Devereux Castle.
He and Claude set out as soon as breakfast was over, and came back
about three o'clock; Claude was tired with the heat, and betook
himself to the sofa, where he fell asleep, under pretence of reading,
but the indefatigable Marquis was ready and willing to set out with
Reginald and Wat Greenwood to shoot rabbits.
Dinner-time came, and Emily sat at the drawing-room window with
Claude and Lilias, lamenting her cousin's bad habits. 'Nothing will
ever make him punctual,' said she.
'I am in duty bound to let you say nothing against him,' said Claude.
'It is very good-natured in him to wait for you,' said Lily, 'but it
would be horribly selfish to leave you behind.'
'Delay is his great horror,' said Claude, 'and the wonder of his
character is, that he is not selfish.
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