“Again?” said Sir Richard wearily.
The Major’s eyes stared at him. “Upon my soul, sir! Do you tell me that this—this young scoundrel is in the habit of seducing innocent females?”
“Dear me, is it as bad as that?” asked Sir Richard.
“No, sir, it is not!” fumed the Major. “But when I tell you that my daughter has confessed that she went out last night to meet him clandestinely in a wood, and has met him many times before in Bath—”
Up came Sir Richard’s quizzing-glass. “I condole with you,” he said. “Your daughter would appear to be a young lady of enterprise.”
“My daughter,” declared the Major, “is a silly little miss! I do not know what young people are coming to! This young man—dear me, he looks no more than a lad!—is, I understand, a relative of yours?”
“My cousin,” said Sir Richard. “I am—er—his mother’s trustee. She is a widow.”
“I see that I have come to the proper person!” said the Major.
Sir Richard raised one languid hand. “I beg you will acquit me of all responsibility, sir. My part is merely to remove my cousin from the care of a tutor who has proved himself wholly incapable of controlling his—er—activities, and to convey him to his mother’s home.”
“But what are you doing in Queen Charlton, then?” demanded the Major.