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ease with him. We all conversed for perhaps ten minutes in that gracious, well-lit room, and then the butler announced that supper was served, and we crossed the hall to the dining-room. I was hungry after the long journey, and was glad that they had a light meal waiting for us instead of the customary six o’clock tea. We had dined late that afternoon at an inn somewhere along the Sussex border, and dinner now seemed a long time ago.
    T here was a chandelier in the dining room and the silver glinted beneath its bright light. Axel went straight to the head of the table without hesitation, but I paused not knowing where I should place myself, anxious not to give offense.
    I saw Axel frown and make a barely perceptible gesture to the other end of the table. Moving quickly I went to the chair which he had indicated, and sat down in haste.
    There seemed to be a general hesitation which I did not understand. I began to wonder in panic what mistake I could have made, and then Vere, who was immediately on my right, murmured to me: “You do not intend to say grace?”
    I was speechless.
    “I think it unnecessary to say grace more than once a day,” said Axel from the head of the table. “My wife is accustomed to saying grace only at dinner and not on any other occasion.”
    “Quite right too,” said Esther from her place on Axel’s right. “Times change. Nowadays I hear only the non-conformists say grace at every meal ... Mary dear, do try and sit up straighter! What will happen to your figure if you tend to droop so?”
    Not much that has not already happened, I thought dryly, and then felt sorry for the poor girl as she flushed in embarrassment and sat up as straight as a ramrod. It occurred to me that Esther had a sharp tongue behind her honeyed voice.
    Supper began. We were halfway through the roast beef when the door opened and Ned came into the room. It was the first time I had seen him in a clear light and I was struck by the fact that his clothes were dirty and shabby, and that he obviously had not troubled to change or wash for the meal.
    “I’m sorry to be so late,” he said. “I was attending to the horses.” There was a slight pause. At the head of the table, Axel laid down his knife and leaned back in his chair.
    “Whose job is it to look after the horses?”
    Ned stopped, one hand on the back of his chair.
    “Well?”
    “The grooms.”
    “Have I employed you to be a groom?”
    “No.”
    “Then in the future you will be punctual at meals and not tend the horses when you should be at the table.”
    Ned said nothing. I noticed that the tips of his ears were a dull red. “And I’m afraid I can’t allow you to sit down to a meal looking as unkempt and untidy as a farmhand. You’d better go and eat in the kitchens, and take care to mend your ways in the future, for next time you appear like this in the dining room you’ll be thrashed.”
    The room was very still.
    “Do you understand that?”
    There was a heavy silence.
    “Answer me!”
    “Yes,” said Ned, “you damned bloody foreigner.” And he was gone, the door banging behind him, his footsteps echoing as he crossed the hall towards the kitchens.
    The silence was painful. The footmen tried to pretend they were mere statues incapable of sight or hearing; Esther looked horrified; the girl Mary’s eyes were almost as round as the dinner-plates on the table before us. On my right, Vere was motionless, his knife still poised in his hand, and beyond him Alice seemed to be inspecting what appeared to be an imaginary spot on the tablecloth.
    Axel shrugged his shoulders. “This food is excellent,” he observed to no one in particular. “It would be a pity to let it grow cold any longer.” And he leaned forward in his chair to resume his meal.
    “George,” said Esther in distress, “I really feel I must apologize for him—”
    “No,” said Axel strongly. “That’s not necessary. I would not accept any apology which did not come from his own