The Earl was already so much better as to be able to leave his bedroom.

Twice or thrice a day Fred saw his uncle, and there was much said about the affairs of the estate.

The heir had taken some trouble, had visited some of the tenants, and had striven to seem interested in the affairs of the property.

The Earl could talk for ever about the estate, every field, every fence, almost every tree on which was familiar to him.

That his tenants should be easy in their circumstances, a protestant, church-going, rent-paying people, son following father, and daughters marrying as their mothers had married, unchanging, never sinking an inch in the social scale, or rising,--this was the wish nearest to his heart.
Fred was well disposed to talk about the tenants as long as Kate O'Hara was not mentioned.