“Bring two, Alfred,” added Lionel.
Alfred obeyed, crestfallen and sullen. As soon as he left the room, Lionel began to protest:
“Look here, father, this is too hot, I——”
The Squire smiled blandly.
“Tch! Tch! All this has been intensely disagreeable to me boy, But, dammy! I must practise what I preach. Sound eugenics. No in-and-in breeding. Ben here agrees with me, don’t you, old friend?”
“No, Sir Geoffrey.”
The astonished Squire gripped hard the arms of his chair.
“Wha-a-at?” he roared.
Fishpingle replied deliberately:
“I do not agree with you, Sir Geoffrey. I repeat what I said before. The strain in this case is clean and strong on both sides. In my judgment Alfred and Prudence are specially designed by Providence to practise what you preach, and to provide His Majesty in due time with legitimate and lawful subjects.”