"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean for that to come out so rudely." Meredith said, cursing himself for the informality with which he kept talking to his employer. This wasn’t his brother Gordon with whom he could argue whenever he felt like it or be so crass and simple with. Mr. Chadwick was a lord whose views and whims controlled the city of London. If Meredith disappointed him it could aversely affect his family’s contracts with the army and government. "Yes, lessons are finished. I know the children wanted to enjoy a little time in the garden before dinner and they'd worked so hard today I felt they had earned it."