She would say nothing to him.

She never inquired in a sneering tone, and with angry eyes, whether he had enjoyed his day's sport: but when he spoke of it, she could not answer him with enthusiasm; and in other matters which concerned him she was always enthusiastic.

After a while, too, he made matters worse, for about the end of March he did another very foolish thing.
He almost consented to buy an expensive horse from Sowerby--an animal which he by no means wanted, and which, if once possessed, would certainly lead him into further trouble.

A gentleman, when he has a good horse in his stable, does not like to leave him there eating his head off.

If he be a gig-horse, the owner of him will be keen to drive a gig; if a hunter, the happy possessor will wish to be with a pack of hounds.
"Mark," said Sowerby to him one day, when they were out together, "this brute of mine is so fresh, I can hardly ride him; you are young and strong; change with me for an hour or so." And then they did change, and the horse on which Robarts found himself mounted went away with him beautifully.
"He's a splendid animal," said Mark, when they again met.
"Yes, for a man of your weight.