The pair did not shake hands.
"I have come to speak with you about—er—Tristram." The name stuck in Captain Jeremy's throat.
"The boy strayed into your premises to-day. I know it. If you are aggrieved by such a trifle—"
"I am not. If you doubt the sufficiency of my excuse for calling upon you, let me say at once that I come as the boy's guardian."
"Upon my word—"
"As his legal guardian."
"Bah! This is too much! Do you conceive yourself to be jesting?"
"Have you ever known me to jest?"
"Not wilfully."
"Not, at any rate, upon parchment. Be so good as to run your eye over this."