Then the whole company, who were coming out, appeared, and they started.  Some of the men were drawing lots to see if they should shoot in the morning or in the afternoon.  The party was primarily for Lady Ethelrida’s birthday, and the shoot merely an accessory.

Zara walked by the Crow, who was not shooting at all.  She was wearied with Lord Elterton; wearied with every one.  The Crow was sententious and amused her, and did not expect her to talk.

“You have never seen your husband shoot yet, I expect, Lady Tancred, have you?” he asked her; and when she said, “No,” he went on, “Because you must watch him.  He is a very fine shot.”

She did not know anything about shooting, only that Tristram looked particularly attractive in his shooting clothes, and that English sportsmen were natural, unceremonious creatures, whom she was beginning to like very much.  She wished she could open her heart to this quaint, kind old man, and ask him to explain things to her; but she could not, and presently they got to a safe place and watched.

Tristram happened to be fairly near them; and, yes, he was a good shot—­she could see that.  But, at first, the thud of the beautiful pheasants falling to the ground caused her to wince—­she, who had looked upon the shattered face of Ladislaus, her husband, with only a quiver of disgust!  But these creatures were in the glory of their beauty and the joy of life, and had preyed upon the souls of no one.

Her wonderful face, which interested Colonel Lowerby so, was again abstracted.  Something had brought back that hateful moment to her memory; she could hear Feto, the dancer’s shrieks, and see the blood; and she shivered suddenly and clasped her hands.

“Do you mind seeing the birds come down?” the Crow asked kindly.

“I do not know,” she said.  “I was thinking of some other shooting.”

“Because,” the Crow went on, “the women who rage against sport forget one thing,—­the birds would not exist at all, if it were not for preserving them for this very reason.  They would gradually be trapped and snared and exterminated; whereas, now they have a royal time, of food and courtship and mating, and they have no knowledge of their coming fate, and so live a life of splendor up to the last moment.”

“How much better!  Yes, indeed, I will never be foolish about them again.  I will think of that.”  Then she exclaimed, “Oh, that was wonderful!” for Tristram got two rocketters at right and left, and then another with his second gun.  His temper had not affected his eye, it seemed.

“Tristram is one of the best all-round sportsmen I know,” the Crow announced, “and he has one of the kindest hearts.  I have known him since he was a toddler.  His mother was one of the beauties, when I first put on a cuirass.”

Zara tried to control her interest, and merely said, “Yes?”

“Are you looking forward to the reception at Wrayth on Monday?  I always wonder how a person unaccustomed to England would view all the speeches and dinners, the bonfire, and triumphal arches, and those things of a home-coming.  Rather an ordeal, I expect.”