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The Major's role, however, was on the whole that of listener. For
Elizabeth meant to talk--meant to explain herself to the son and
heir, and, if she could, to drive him to an interest in the family
affairs. To her trained, practical mind the whole clan seemed by now
criminally careless and happy-go-lucky. The gardens were neglected;
so was the house; so was the estate. The gardens ought to have been
made self-supporting; there were at least a third too many servants
in the house; and as for the estate, instead of being a
profit-making and food-producing concern, as it should have been, it
was a bye-word for bad management and neglected land. She did not
pretend to know much about it yet; but what she did know roused her.
England was at grips with a brutal foe. The only weapon that could
defeat her was famine--the sloth and waste of her own sons. This
woman, able, energetic, a lover of her country, could not conceal
her scorn for such a fatal incompetence. Naturally, in talking to
the eldest son, she made the agent her scapegoat for the sins of the
owner.


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