“Sport is savage,” he declared. “No one can deny it. Whether the quarry be human or animal, the end is death. But of all its varieties, give me the hunting of man by man, the brain of the hunter coping with the wiles of the hunted, both human, both of the same order. The game’s even then, for at any moment they may change places—the hunter and his quarry. It’s finer work than slaughtering birds at the coverside. It gives your sex a chance, Lady Peggy.”
“It sounds exciting,” she admitted.
“It is,” he answered.
His hostess looked up at him languidly.
“You speak like one who knows!”
“Why not?” he murmured. “I have been both quarry and hunter. Most of us have more or less! I declare Hearts!”
Again there was an interval of silence, broken only by the stock phrases of the game, and the soft patter of the cards upon the table. Once more the hand was played out and the cards gathered up. Captain Austin delivered his quota to the general discussion.
“After all,” he said, “if it wasn’t for sport, our country houses would be useless.”
“Not at all!” Deyes declared. “Country houses should exist for——”