"That wouldn't be enough to live on?"
"It ought to be enough,—as he must, I suppose, have the property some day,—if only he had something to do. What sort of a life would he lead?"
"I suppose he couldn't become a Master of Hounds?"
"That is ill-natured, Mr. Finn."
"I did not mean it so. I did not indeed. You must know that I did not."
"Of course Oswald had nothing to do, and, of course, there was a time when I wished that he should take to Parliament. No one knew all that better than you did. But he was very different from Mr. Maule."
"Very different, indeed."
"Oswald is a man full of energy, and with no touch of that affectation which you described. As it is, he does work hard. No man works harder. The learned people say that you should produce something, and I don't suppose that he produces much. But somebody must keep hounds, and nobody could do it better than he does."
"You don't think that I meant to blame him?"
"I hope not."