His lordship welcomed the appearance of the two young people as a relief from the further discussion of a painful topic. ‘So, young madam,’ he said to Dulcie, pinching her ear, ‘you’ve come back! And where have you been all the afternoon?’ ‘On the sands,’ said Dulcie. ‘You’re not angry with me, are you?’ she asked, kissing him in a coaxing fashion, for the tone in which he had spoken was a little sharp. ‘I was so sorry to hear that you had been upset.’ ‘It wouldn’t have happened if you had been at the table,’ said Kilpatrick. ‘I suppose I have to thank _you_, sir,’ he continued to Desmond, ‘for her absence? You’re pretty spectacles, the pair of you,’ he went on, looking at the disordered dresses, flushed faces and untidy hair of the young couple. ‘You’ve been up to some mischief, I suppose?’ ‘Not this time,’ said Desmond, smiling. ‘Hold your tongue, boy!’ snapped his lordship, with sudden and inexplicable ill-temper. ‘Don’t bandy words with me--hold your tongue!’ ‘Yes, sir,’ said Desmond. ‘Can’t you find something better to do than to go wandering about the place, mixing with all the loafers and blackguards in the county? Can’t you speak? You can chatter fast enough when you’re not asked to.’ ‘You told me to hold my tongue, sir,’ said Desmond, falling back on Irish prevarication and broadening his brogue. ‘I shall have to take some order with you, sir,’ said Kilpatrick. ‘Come to my study to-morrow after breakfast. It’s time you were doing something--time you began to think of--of your future. There, there,’ he continued, patting Desmond’s shoulder, ‘I’m not angry with you, my boy. I’ve been upset, and in my state of health the least thing excites me--ask Peebles.’ ‘Ay,’ said the Scot, ‘that’s true--you’ve a troublesome temper.’ ‘Never mind,’ said Dulcie; ‘we’ll coddle you up and comfort you. I’ll play a game of backgammon with you, and if that doesn’t cure you, I’ll send over to Galway for mamma.’ ‘For your mother!’ cried Kilpatrick. ‘My sister Matilda!’ ‘She’s a capital nurse,’ said Dulcie. ‘She’ll set you right in a jiffy--as Desmond would say.’ The bit of slang passed unnoticed by his lordship in his terror at the suggestion it conveyed. ‘Good heavens, child! Matilda will be praying over me day and night. I’m not quite so bad as that--I won’t be prayed over; but for this little cardiac weakness, I’m in excellent condition. Ask Peebles. There, there, go and get your dinner, and take Desmond with you.’ ‘I shall come back afterwards,’ said Dulcie. ‘Yes, yes!’ said her uncle. ‘Come back by-and-by and give me my game of backgammon.’ ‘I met Mr. Blake on the road, sir,’ said Desmond. ‘He asked me to deliver a message to your lordship.’ ‘Well,’ snapped Kilpatrick, ‘what has the drunken brute to say to me?’ ‘Just to apologize for what he did and said this afternoon.’ ‘His repentance is mighty sudden,’ said Kilpatrick.