"There shall not be another word said about it," said the Duke again. "And now what do you mean to do with yourself immediately?"
"I'll stay here, sir, as long as you do. Finn, and Warburton, and I have still a few coverts to shoot."
"That's a good reason for staying anywhere."
"I meant that I would remain while you remained, sir."
"That at any rate is a good reason, as far as I am concerned. But we go to Custins next week."
"There's a deal of shooting to be done at Gatherum," said the heir.
"You speak of it as if it were the business of your life,—on which your bread depended."
"One can't expect game to be kept up if nobody goes to shoot it."
"Can't one? I didn't know. I should have thought that the less was shot the more there would be to shoot; but I am ignorant in such matters." Silverbridge then broke forth into a long explanation as to coverts, gamekeepers, poachers, breeding, and the expectations of the neighbourhood at large, in the middle of which he was interrupted by the Duke. "I am afraid, my dear boy, that I am too old to learn. But as it is so manifestly a duty, go and perform it like a man. Who will go with you?"
"I will ask Mr. Finn to be one."