(and dearly as he loved his wife, why should he have thought of her when his hands were so brimful of business, and his head, long though it was, could scarcely carry all the weighty load that, for the nonce, it had to bear?)--if he thought, then, about Honor at all, it was to fancy her sitting side by side with “the old lady,” talking, as foolish women do, with eager interest about the trifles that to them make up the sum of life--the fashion of a bonnet, the wearing capabilities of a carpet, and the merits or misdemeanours of a maidservant. There was not a misgiving as to the truth in John’s honest breast, while, helping himself to slice after slice of a cold sirloin, which he pronounced as good a “bit” of meat as any in England, he dilated with the loquacity and _verve_ of a man whose soul is in his subject on all that had taken place during his absence: the promise held out by the young stock, the health and well-being of the old, and the trustworthiness and intelligence of Will Simmons, who had been on the farm, man and boy, for forty years, were largely dwelt on; and for once, as it appeared by John Beacham’s showing, things had gone on quite as well during the master’s absence as they would have done had they been subject to his daily supervision. Verily “eye-service” was unknown in the breeding-establishment of Updown Paddocks! And all this time, what was Honor thinking of as she sat by her husband’s side, her work lying idle on her lap, and her eyes fixed vacantly on the goodly joint so rapidly diminishing under the effects of John’s healthy appetite? He had not waited for the answer to his question regarding the way in which she and “the old lady” had “got on” together. The query had, in fact, been almost made unconsciously, no fear of a possibly unfavourable reply having for a moment crossed his mind; but to Honor, who had yearned for his return from a vague idea that there would be comfort and encouragement from his very presence--to Honor, whose heart was sore and her mind engrossed by the failures and mortifications with which that long wearisome day had been fraught--the sight of that excellent John satisfying, with such evident _gusto_, his carnivorous appetite, and wholly engrossed by interests extraneous to herself, was anything but exhilarating. Nor were matters mended when, an hour later, the tired, contented man (the empty glass, where hot toddy _had been_, standing empty at his elbow) stretched himself comfortably in his big leathern chair, and slept the sleep of the just.