As he spoke, he gently compelled Nell to seat herself again, and himself went to the chair on the opposite side of the fireplace to his host’s. Winkfield came back into the room, carrying the tea-tray. He shot one look at his master, and appeared to be satisfied, for he did not look at him again, but instead permitted himself to smile primly at Nell, as he set the tray down on a small table in front of her.
She began to pour out. Sir Peter said: “Don’t be alarmed! When my granddaughter has retired, you shall try my brandy.”
“To own the truth, sir,” said John, getting up, and going to the tea-table to receive from Nell’s hands a cup and saucer, “the sight of a tea-tray is most welcome!” He glanced round the room, saw a small table, and brought it to Sir Peter’s chair, and set the cup and saucer down on it, within reach of his right hand. “In my present—er—employment, such niceties are unknown. Such guests as I have prefer to take their refreshment out of a barrel or a bottle.” He took his own cup from Nell, and went back again to his chair.
Sir Peter gave a dry chuckle. “No doubt! Do you find your present employment congenial?”
“Not entirely,” returned the Captain. “I think it would soon grow to be excessively irksome. One’s movements are so restricted! I must own, however, that there is more to gatekeeping that I had previously supposed. I had no notion how many people there were in the world bent on cheating the tolls, for instance!”
Nell saw that her grandfather was looking amused. Her inward agitation grew less; she found herself able to put in a word, encouraging the Captain to continue on these lines. Her meetings with him had all been informal; she now realized that his manners, on more conventional occasions, had just that well-bred ease which she knew must please Sir Peter. He talked like a sensible man, and with a great deal of humour; and she soon saw that there was no need for her to feel anxious lest he should let fall some remark which would perturb her grandfather. Her heart did indeed take a jump into her mouth when Sir Peter asked him what he supposed had become of Brean; but he replied without hesitation, and with a twinkle in his eye, saying: “I’m much afraid, sir, that he may be languishing in gaol, and I trust, for his sake, it won’t come to the ears of his employers. It seems pretty plain that he went off on the spree, dipped rather too deep, and ended the night by falling foul of the watch. I expect there was a lively mill: four out of five of my troopers were always fatally ready to sport their canvases as soon as they became top-heavy!”
“You were in the cavalry, Captain Staple?”
“3rd Dragoon Guards, sir. I sold out in ’14.”
“You should be a hunting-man. Shires?”
The Captain shook his head. “Above my touch. I’ve had a day or two with the Quorn, but the most of my hunting is provincial. My home is in Hertfordshire. I find I get very good sport there with a modest stable. A friend of mine, who hunts regularly with the Quorn, assures me that a minimum of ten horses is necessary to him—and, having ridden over his country, I can readily believe it.”