“If⁠—if you had been killed, sir⁠—’twould have been my fault.”

“Rubbish! I’d a sword, hadn’t I? For heaven’s sake don’t worry about it any more! Have you brought all my baggage?”

“Yes, sir. It shan’t occur again, sir.”

“Certainly not. Jenny is well?”

“Splendid, sir. Will you still trust me with your pistols, sir?”

Carstares groaned.

“Will you have done? ’Twas an accident, and I have forgotten it. Here’s my hand on it!” He grasped Jim’s as he spoke, and seemed to brush the whole subject aside.

“Have you disposed of that horrible coat you tried to make me wear the other day?”

“I gave it to the landlord, sir.”