No, Slater couldn't breathe half the time. He was up to his neck in dealings and debts and strikings that he had to take care of. Sometimes it was nice just to take a stroll and that it was with Mary made it all the better. "I aint done well, let me tell you that. Positively pining!" he admitted, though possibly exaggerated it a little.
At her question he became quiet. "It's been long cause you went off and had yourself and cushy life, Mary, one which was respectable til you caught the ey o' that old dirty rotten Lord... want me to sort him out?"