How that came Sir Denis did not trouble to ask.

He was quite satisfied and delighted that "the boys" should do him honour.
The breakfast-room was one of the few rooms that did not overlook the square but the street.

Every morning, just as Sir Denis concluded prayers, there would come the steady trot of cavalry and the jingle of accoutrements.

If he had not quite finished, he would say "Amen" in a reverent hurry.

"Come now, boys and girls," he would say to the servants, "I want you to see my old regiment." He would step out on the balcony above the hall-door with a beaming face, and his arm around his Nelly's waist.