s any occasion to have them brought out of the
houses, Roderick," Lady Jane answered quietly; "there is always a risk
of their being killed, or some of your sporting friends might be
picking my prize blossoms to put in their button-holes. Men who give
their minds to horses would hardly appreciate orchids."

"All right, mother. As long as there is plenty to eat, I don't suppose
it much matters," answered Rorie.

He had certainly no cause for complaint upon this score. Briarwood had
been amply provisioned for an unlimited hospitality. The red coats and
green coats, and blue coats and brown coats, came in and out, slashed
away at boar's head and truffled turkey, sent champagne corks flying,
and added more dead men to the formidable corps of tall hock bottles,
dressed in uniform brown, which the astonished butler ranged rank and
file in a lobby outside the dining-room. He had never seen this kind of
thing at Briarwood since he had kept the keys of the cellars; and he
looked upon this promiscuous hospitality with a disapproving eye.

The Duke supported his nephew admirably, and was hail-fellow-well-met
with everybody. He had always been popular at Ashbourne. It was his own
place, his particular selection, bought with his own money, improved
under his own eye, and he liked it better than any of his hereditary
seats.

"If I had only had a son like you, Rorie," he said, as he stood beside
the young man, on the gravel sweep before the hall-door, welcoming the
new-comers, "I should have been a happy man. Well, I suppose I must be
satisfied with a grandson; but it's a hard thing that the title and
estates are to go to that scamp of a cousin of mine."

Roderick, on this particular morning, was a nephew whom any uncle might
be proud to own. His red coat and buckskins became him; so did his
position as host and master at Briarwood. His tall erect figure showed
to advantage amidst the crowd. His smile lit up the dark sunburnt face
like sunshine. He had a kind word, a friendly hand-clasp for
everybody--even for gaffers and goodies who had hobbled from their
village shanties to see the sport, and to get their share of cold
sirloin and old October. He took the feeble old creatures into the
tent, and saw that they found a place at the board.

Squire Tempest and his daughter were among the later arrivals. The meet
was to be at one, and they only rode into the grounds at half-past
twelve, when everyone else had breakfasted. Mrs. Tempe