Leonora knew that it probably made it all the worse that he had
been betrayed into a manifestation of anger before a third party. It
was the first and last time that he ever was betrayed into such a
manifestation of anger. The land-steward, a moderate and
well-balanced man whose family also had been with the
Ashburnhams for over a century, took it upon himself to explain
that he considered Edward was pursuing a perfectly proper course
with his tenants. He erred perhaps a little on the side of
generosity, but hard times were hard times, and every one had to
feel the pinch, landlord as well as tenants. The great thing was not
to let the land get into a poor state of cultivation. Scotch farmers
just skinned your fields and let them go down and down. But
Edward had a very good set of tenants who did their best for him
and for themselves. These arguments at that time carried very little
conviction to Leonora. She was, nevertheless, much concerned by
Edward's outburst of anger. The fact is that Leonora had been
practising economies in her department. Two of the
under-housemaids had gone and she had not replaced them; she
had spent much less that year upon dress.
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