“Well, he needn’t wear it, need he? And Dawson’s lad will be glad enough of it—he’s sadly in want of clothes.”

“Ay, ay; but who’s to go with you when you call at the Towers? It’s but polite to call after Lord What’s-his- name has taken the trouble to come here; and I shouldn’t like you to go without a groom.”

“My dear father! I shouldn’t know what to do with a man riding at my back. I can find my way to the stableyard for myself, or there’ll be some man about to take my horse. Don’t trouble yourself about that.”

“Well, you’re not Osborne, to be sure. Perhaps it won’t strike ’em as strange for you. But you must look up, and hold your own, and remember you’re one of the Hamleys, who’ve been on the same land for hundreds of years, while they’re but trumpery Whig folk, who only came into the county in Queen Anne’s time.”