"What have you come for?" he said.
Green halted in front of him. "I've come to make a very humble apology," he said, "for my boy Robin's misdemeanour."
"Have you?" growled Fielding. He sat motionless, still looking up at Green from under heavily scowling brows. "Do you think I'm going to be satisfied with just an apology?"
"May I sit down, please?" said Green, pulling forward a chair.
"Oh yes, sit down! Sit down and argue!" said the squire irritably. "You're always ready with some plausible excuse for that half-witted young scoundrel. I'll tell you what it is, Dick. If you don't get rid of him after this, there'll be a split between us. I'm not going to countenance your infernal obstinacy any longer. The boy is unsafe and he must go."
Green sat, leaning forward, courteously attentive, his eyes unwavering fixed upon his patron's irate countenance.
He did not immediately reply to the mandate, and the squire's frown deepened. "You hear me, Dick?" he said.
Green nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Well?" Fielding's hand clenched upon the paper in exasperation.
Dick's eyes very bright, wholly undismayed, continued to meet his with unvarying steadiness. "I'm very sorry, sir," he said. "The answer is the same as usual. I can't."