"
Allen saw she was vexed, and spoke more kindly, "There, never mind,
mother. It is more than can be expected that ladies should see
things in a reasonable light."
"What is the reasonable light?" asked Bobus.
Allen did not choose to hear, regarding Bobus not indeed as a woman,
but as something as little capable of appreciating his reason. It
was Janet who took up the word. "The reasonable light is that the
enjoyment of the many should be sacrificed to the vanity of the few,
viz., that all Kenminster should be confined to dusty roads all the
year round in order that Allen may bring down the youngest son of the
youngest son of a German prince for one day to fire amongst some
hundreds of tame pheasants who come up expecting to be fed."
"Oh, yes," said Allen, "we all know that you are a regular out-and-
out democrat, Janet."
"I confess, without being a democrat," said his mother, "that I do
wonder that you gentlemen, who wish the game laws to continue, should
so work them as to be more aggravating than ever."
"It is a simple question of the rights of property," said Allen. "If
I do a thing, I like it to be well done, and not half-and-half."
Caroline rose from the table, dreading, like many a mother, a regular
skirmish about game-preserving, between those who cared to shoot, and
those who did not.
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