“Oh no, not heavy!” he said quickly. Then his voice dropped again into the broad sound of the vernacular: “Good mornin’ to your Ladyship!”

“Who is your gamekeeper?” Connie asked at lunch.

“Mellors! You saw him,” said Clifford.

“Yes, but where did he come from?”

“Nowhere! He was a Tevershall boy⁠ ⁠… son of a collier, I believe.”

“And was he a collier himself?”

“Blacksmith on the pit-bank, I believe: overhead smith. But he was keeper here for two years before the war⁠ ⁠… before he joined up. My father always had a good opinion of him, so when he came back, and went to the pit for a blacksmith’s job, I just took him back here as keeper. I was really very glad to get him⁠ ⁠… it’s almost impossible to find a good man round here, for a gamekeeper⁠ ⁠… and it needs a man who knows the people.”