She fought him against the other people's cocks with astonishing zeal and passion; and whenever he failed to kill, or lost too many feathers in the process, her annoyance was evident.
Meadows was in truth becoming a little tired of her dictation, although it was only ten days since he had arrived under her roof.

There was a large amount of lethargy combined with his ability; and he hated to be obliged to live at any pace but his own.

But Rachel Dunstable was an imperious friend, never tired herself, apparently, either in mind or body; and those who could not walk, eat, and talk to please her were apt to know it.

Her opinions too, both political and literary, were in some directions extremely violent; and though, in general, argument and contradiction gave her pleasure, she had her days and moods, and Meadows had already suffered occasional sets-down, of a kind to which he was not accustomed.
But if he was--just a little--out of love with his new friend, in all other respects he was enjoying himself enormously.

The long days on the moors, the luxurious life indoors, the changing and generally agreeable company, all the thousand easements and pleasures that wealth brings with it, the skilled service, the motors, the costly cigars, the wines--there was a Sybarite in Meadows which revelled in them all.