They hobnobbed, of course, and indulged in that kind of promiscuous conversation which cannot well be reported.

From a feeling of respect to Helen, no allusion was made either to the burning of Reilly's property or to Reilly personally.

The only person who had any difficulty in avoiding the subject was the old squire himself, who more than once found the topic upon his lips, but with a kind of short cough he gulped it down, and got rid of it for the time.

In what manner he might treat the act itself was a matter which excited a good deal of speculation in the minds of those who were present.

He was known to be a man who, if the whim seized him to look upon it as a cowardly and vindictive proceeding, would by no means scruple to express his opinions strongly against it; whilst, on the other hand, if he measured it in connection with his daughter's forbidden attachment to Reilly, he would, of course, as vehemently express his approbation of the outrage.