"If I had thought I wouldn't have then," retorted the godless young man. "Well, well, don't quarrel," said the Earl; "let Power have the living, and let the matter end." "He'll do a power of harm," said the Captain, levelling a last shot at the head of the clergyman, to whom, in common with his kind, he had a great antipathy, and regarded as his natural enemy. "Apropos of changing the subject, how do you like the idea of our regiment going to Brighton?" said Sir Richard. "Famously," answered the Captain, "we shall have a rare lark with the Regent. Do you remember the last time he supped with us, Musgrave?" "I should think I did just: what a spree we had that night!" "What was it?" said Frank; "out with it, John--now you are in for a story." The Captain then told how the Prince and one of his royal brothers, Musgrave and he, had gone out for a spree in London, knocked down the Charlies, and going into a tavern, how the Prince had got up a row, and when they were all milling, unbuttoned his coat and shown them his Star and Garter. His narrative was intermingled with dreadful oaths, and during the recital he and Musgrave, as well as Arranmore, who was also a hard drinker, had plied themselves with a heavy quantity of liquor in Lennox's opinion, but a quantity that the Captain only regarded as a milksop's allowance. By-and-by, as they imbibed more wine, the mirth grew faster and more furious, and queer stories were told, till the Earl, seeing the scene was distasteful both to Lennox and Ravensworth, ended it by a proposition to join the ladies, much to the Captain's horror, who, as he tossed off a glass of raw brandy, wondered "why the deuce his brother was in such a jolly hurry that night."