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Programming
with C++20
Concepts, Coroutines,
Ranges, and more

Andreas Fertig
Andreas Fertig

Programming with C++20

Concepts, Coroutines, Ranges, and more

2. Edition
© 2024 Andreas Fertig
https://AndreasFertig.com
All rights reserved

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bib-
liographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

The work including all its parts is protected by copyright. Any use outside the limits of the copyright law
requires the prior consent of the author. This applies in particular to copying, editing, translating and
saving and processing in electronic systems.

The reproduction of common names, trade names, trade names, etc. in this work does not justify
the assumption that such names are to be regarded as free within the meaning of the trademark
and trademark protection legislation and therefore may be used by everyone, even without special
identification.

Planning and text:

Andreas Fertig

Cover art and illustrations:

Franziska Panter
https://franziskapanter.com

Published by:
Fertig Publications
https://andreasfertig.com

ISBN: 978-3-949323-05-8

This book is available as ebook at https://leanpub.com/programming-with-cpp20

 Thank you, Brigitte & Karl! You opened the world for me. You were
always there, supporting me, letting me find my own way, making me what
I am.

To Franziska, without her, I would not have accomplished this project.

Never tired of reminding me of my talents, driving me when I’m tired, keep-
ing my focus on. A lot of more could be written here. I like to close with:
Thank You!
4
Using Code Examples

This book exists to assist you during your daily job life or hobbies. All examples in
this book are released under the MIT license.
The main reason for choosing the MIT license was to avoid uncertainty. It is a
well-established open-source license and comes with few restrictions. That should
make it easy to use it even in closed-source projects. If you need a dedicated license
or have questions about the existing licensing, feel free to contact me.

Code download

The source code for this book’s examples is available at

https://github.com/andreasfertig/programming-with-cpp20 .

Used Compilers

For those of you who would like to try out the code with the same compilers and
revisions I used, here you go:

■ GCC 13.2.0

■ Clang 17.0.0
6
About the Author

Andreas Fertig, CEO of Unique Code GmbH, is an experienced trainer and lecturer
for C++ for standards 11 to 23.

Andreas is involved in the C++ standardization committee, developing the

new standards. At international conferences, he presents how code can be written
better. He publishes specialist articles, e.g., for iX magazine, and has published
several textbooks on C++.

With C++ Insights (cppinsights.io), Andreas has created an internationally rec-

ognized tool that enables users to look behind the scenes of C++ and thus to
understand constructs even better.

Before training and consulting, he worked for Philips Medizin Systeme GmbH for
ten years as a C++ software developer and architect focusing on embedded systems.

You can find him online at andreasfertig.com.

8
About the Book

Programming with C++20 teaches programmers with C++ experience the new fea-
tures of C++20 and how to apply them. It does so by assuming C++11 knowledge.
Elements of the standards between C++11 and C++20 will be briefly introduced, if
necessary. However, the focus is on teaching the features of C++20.
You will start with learning about the so-called big four Concepts, Coroutines,
std::ranges, and modules. The big four a followed by smaller yet not less important
features. You will learn about std::format, the new way to format a string in C++.
In chapter 6, you will learn about a new operator, the so-called spaceship operator,
which makes you write less code.
You then will look at various improvements of the language, ensuring more con-
sistency and reducing surprises. You will learn how lambdas improved in C++20 and
what new elements you can now pass as non-type template parameters. Your next
stop is the improvements to the STL.
Of course, you will not end this book without learning about what happened in
the constexpr-world.

Style and conventions

The following shows the execution of a program. I used the Linux way here and
skipped supplying the desired output name, resulting in a.out as the program name.

$ ./a.out
Output

Hello, Programming with C++20!

10

■ <string> stands for a header file named string.

■ [[xyz]] marks a C++ attribute with the name xyz.

From time to time, I use an element from a previous standard after C++11. I ex-
plain these elements in dedicated standard boxes such as the following:

0.1 C++14: A sample element

A sample element from C++14.

These boxes carry the standard in which this element was introduced and are num-
bered such that I can reference them like this: Std-Box 0.1.
All listings are numbered and sometimes come with annotations which I refer to
like this A .
References carry a page number in case the reference isn’t on the same page. For
example, Std-Box 0.1 has no page number because it appears on the same page.

Feedback

This book is published on Leanpub (https://leanpub.com/programming-with-

cpp20) as a digital version. A full-color and a grayscale paperback version are
available on Amazon. It helps if you indicate the book type you’re referring to.

In any case, I appreciate your feedback. Please report it to me, whether it be a

typo, a grammatical error, an issue with naming variables or functions, or another
logical concern. You can send your feedback to [email protected].

PDF/Paperback vs. epub

As with most of my material, the book is written in LATEX. The epub version is
generated by a custom script which first translates LATEX into Markdown and then
translates Markdown into epub with the help of pandoc. This comes with some
limitations. Currently, the bibliography does not use the same style as the PDF, and
 About the Book 11

the index is missing in the epub.

Another issue I have with the epub is that I do not own a reader device my-
self. I tested it with Apple’s Books.However, please tell me if you have better
knowledge of optimizing the output.

Thank you

I like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed drafts for this book and gave me
valuable feedback. Thank you! All this feedback helped to improve the book. Here
is a list of people who provided feedback: Vladimir Krivopalov, Hristiyan Nevelinov,
John Plaice, Peter Sommerlad, Salim Pamukcu, Jonathan Di Cosmo, and others.
A special thanks goes to Fran Buontempo, editor of ACCU’s Overload magazine.
She provided extensive feedback from the beginning and was never tired of pointing
out some grammar issues along with poking to the base of my code examples, helping
me make them better.

Revision History

2021-01-30: First release (Leanpub)

2021-04-22: Various spelling and grammar updates due to feedback. Added chapter
9. (Leanpub)
2021-10-01: Added chapter 3. (Leanpub)
2021-10-15: Added chapter 10. (Leanpub)
2021-10-18: Various spelling and grammar updates due to feedback. Fixed listing
numbers. Better styling of boxes (Leanpub)
2021-10-25: Added chapter 4. Various layout improvements. (Leanpub)
2021-10-27: Added chapter 11. Various layout improvements. (Leanpub)
2021-11-10: Added chapter 12, rewrote chapter 1. Various layout improvements.
(Leanpub)
2021-11-26: Full release (Leanpub, Amazon)
2023-01-03: Various spelling and grammar updates due to feedback. (Leanpub)
12

2024-02-06: Prepareing second edition. (Leanpub, Print)

Table of Contents

1 Concepts: Predicates for strongly typed generic code 17

1.1 Programming before Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2 Start using Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3 Application areas for Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.4 The requires-expression: The runway for Concepts . . . . . . 23
1.5 Requirement kinds in a requires-expression . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.6 Ad hoc constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.7 Defining a concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.8 Testing requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.9 Abbreviated function template with auto as a generic pa-
rameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.10 Using a constexpr function in a concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.11 Concepts and constrained auto types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.12 The power of Concepts: requires instead of enable_if . . . 40
1.13 Concepts ordering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
1.14 Improved error message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1.15 Existing Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

2 Coroutines: Suspending functions 65

2.1 Regular functions and their control flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.2 What are Coroutines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.3 The Elements of Coroutines in C++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.4 Writing a byte-stream parser the old way . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.5 A byte-stream parser with Coroutines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.6 A different strategy of the Parse generator . . . . . . . . . . . 91
14

2.7 Using a coroutine with custom new / delete . . . . . . . . . . . 98

2.8 Using a coroutine with a custom allocator . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
2.9 Exceptions in coroutines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

3 Ranges: The next-generation STL 107

3.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.2 The who is who of ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.3 A range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.4 A range algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
3.5 A view into a range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.6 A range adaptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.7 The new ranges namespaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
3.8 Ranges Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
3.9 Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.10 Creating a custom range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

4 Modules: The superior way of includes 131

4.1 Background about the need for modules . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.2 Creating modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.3 Applying modules to an existing code base . . . . . . . . . . . 136

5 std::format: Modern & type-safe text formatting 145

5.1 Formatting a string before C++20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
5.2 Formatting a string using std::format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.3 Formatting a custom type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.4 Referring to a format argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
5.5 Using a custom buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5.6 Writing our own logging function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

6 Three-way comparisons: Simplify your comparisons 175

6.1 Writing a class with equal comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.2 Writing a class with ordering comparison, pre C++20 . . . . 180
6.3 Writing a class with ordering comparison in C++20 . . . . . 183
6.4 The different comparison categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
6.5 Converting between comparison categories . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.6 New operator abilities: reverse and rewrite . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.7 The power of the default spaceship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
The Project Gutenberg eBook of
Mr. Carteret and Others
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Mr. Carteret and Others

Author: David Gray

Release date: May 11, 2022 [eBook #68051]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: The Century Co, 1905

Credits: Charlene Taylor, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR.

CARTERET AND OTHERS ***
Mr. Carteret
“It’s one of the smartest packs in England”
 Mr. Carteret
and Others

by
David Gray
Author of “Gallops I,” “Gallops II,” etc.

New York
The Century Co.
1910

Copyright, 1899, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910,

by The Century Co.
Copyright, 1904, 1905, by The Metropolitan
Magazine Company
 ——
Published March, 1910

THE DE VINNE PRESS

To M. G. G.
 CONTENTS
PAGE
I Mr. Carteret and His Fellow Americans Abroad 3
II How Mr. Carteret Proposed 37
III Mr. Carteret’s Adventure with a Locket 87
IV The Case of the Evanstons 123
V The Matter of a Mashie 157
VI The Medal of Honor Story 185
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
“It’s one of the smartest packs in England” Frontispiece
“A little more in the middle” 23
The vast scarlet-coated throng that surged toward the
43
gate
She was not dead. He realized it when he bent over her 97
Evanston and his wife were sitting side by side upon the
151
couch
The lawyer’s mouth became grim 175
There was a crash of glass 179
“Did you remove the shoes of the honorable young
215
foreign lady?”

MR. CARTERET AND HIS

FELLOW AMERICANS ABROAD
 I
MR. CARTERET AND HIS FELLOW AMERICANS
ABROAD

“It must have been highly interesting,” observed Mrs. Archie Brawle;
“so much pleasanter than a concert.”
“Rather!” replied Lord Frederic. “It was ripping!”
Mrs. Ascott-Smith turned to Mr. Carteret. She had been listening to
Lord Frederic Westcote, who had just come down from town where
he had seen the Wild West show. “Is it so?” she asked. “Have you
ever seen them?” By “them” she meant the Indians.
Mr. Carteret nodded.
“It seems so odd,” continued Mrs. Archie Brawle, “that they should
ride without saddles. Is it a pose?”
“No, I fancy not,” replied Lord Frederic.
“They must get very tired without stirrups,” insisted Mrs. Archie. “But
perhaps they never ride very long at a time.”
“That is possible,” said Lord Frederic doubtfully. “They are only on
about twenty minutes in the show.”
Mr. Pringle, the curate, who had happened in to pay his monthly call
upon Mrs. Ascott-Smith, took advantage of the pause. “Of course, I
am no horseman,” he began apprehensively, “and I have never seen
the red Indians, either in their native wilds or in a show, but I have
read not a little about them, and I have gathered that they almost live
on horseback.”
Major Hammerslea reached toward the tea table for another muffin
and hemmed. “It is a very different thing,” he said with heavy
impressiveness. “It is a very different thing.”
The curate looked expectant, as if believing that his remarks were
going to be noticed. But nothing was farther from the Major’s mind.
“What is so very different?” inquired Mrs. Ascott-Smith, after a pause
had made it clear that the Major had ignored Pringle.
“It is one thing, my dear Madame, to ride a stunted, half-starved
pony, as you say, ‘bareback,’ and another thing to ride a conditioned
British hunter (he pronounced it huntaw) without a saddle. I must say
that the latter is an impossibility.” The oracle came to an end and the
material Major began on the muffin.
There was an approving murmur of assent. The Major was the
author of “Schooling and Riding British Hunters”; however, it was not
only his authority which swayed the company, but individual
conviction. Of the dozen people in the room, excepting Pringle, all
rode to hounds with more or less enthusiasm, and no one had ever
seen any one hunting without a saddle and no one had ever
experienced any desire to try the experiment. Obviously it was an
absurdity.
“Nevertheless,” observed Lord Frederic, “I must say their riding was
very creditable—quite as good as one sees on any polo field in
England.”
Major Hammerslea looked at him severely, as if his youth were not
wholly an excuse. “It is, as I said,” he observed. “It is one thing to
ride an American pony and another to ride a British hunter. One
requires horsemanship, the other does not. And horsemanship,” he
continued, “which properly is the guiding of a horse across country,
requires years of study and experience.”
Lord Frederic looked somewhat unconvinced but he said nothing.
“Of course the dear Major (she called it deah Majaw) is
unquestionably right,” said Mrs. Ascott-Smith.
“Undoubtedly,” said Mr. Carteret. “I suppose that he has often seen
Indians ride?”
“Have you often seen these Indians ride?” inquired Mrs. Ascott-
Smith of the Major.
“Do you mean Indians or the Red Men of North America?” replied
the Major. “And do you mean upon ponies in a show or upon British
hunters?”
“Which do you mean?” asked Mrs. Ascott-Smith.
“I suppose that I mean American Indians,” said Mr. Carteret, “and
either upon ponies or upon British hunters.”
“No,” said the Major, “I have not. Have you?”
“Not upon British hunters,” said Mr. Carteret.
“But do you think that they could?” inquired Lord Frederic.
“It would be foolish of me to express an opinion,” replied Mr.
Carteret, “because, in the first place, I have never seen them ride
British hunters over fences—”
“They would come off at the first obstacle,” observed the Major, more
in sorrow than in anger.
“And in the second place,” continued Mr. Carteret, “I am perhaps
naturally prejudiced in behalf of my fellow countrymen.”
Mrs. Ascott-Smith looked at him anxiously. His sister had married a
British peer. “But you Americans are quite distinct from the red
Indians,” she said. “We quite understand that nowadays. To be sure,
my dear Aunt—” She stopped.
“Rather!” said Mrs. Archie Brawle. “You don’t even intermarry with
them, do you?”
“That is a matter of personal taste,” said Mr. Carteret. “There is no
law against it.”
“But nobody that one knows—” began Mrs. Ascott-Smith.
“There was John Rolfe,” said Mr. Carteret; “he was a very well
known chap.”
“Do you know him?” asked Mrs. Brawle.
The curate sniggered. His hour of triumph had come. “Rolfe is dead,”
he said.
“Really!” said Mrs. Brawle, coldly. “It had quite slipped my mind. You
see I never read the papers during the hunting. But is his wife
received?”
“I believe that she was,” said Mr. Carteret.
The curate was still sniggering and Mrs. Brawle put her glass in her
eye and looked at him. Then she turned to Mr. Carteret. “But all this,”
she said, “of course, has nothing to do with the question. Do you
think that these red Indians could ride bareback across our country?”
“As I said before,” replied Mr. Carteret, “it would be silly of me to
express an opinion, but I should be interested in seeing them try it.”
“I have a topping idea!” cried Lord Frederic. He was an enthusiastic,
simple-minded fellow.
“You must tell us,” exclaimed Mrs. Ascott-Smith.
“Let us have them down, and take them hunting!”
“How exciting!” exclaimed Mrs. Ascott-Smith. “What sport!”
The Major looked at her reprovingly. “It would be as I said,” he
observed.
“But it would be rather interesting,” said Mrs. Brawle.
“It might,” said the Major, “it might be interesting.”
“It would be ripping!” said Lord Frederic. “But how can we manage
it?”
“I’ll mount them,” said the Major with a grim smile. “My word! They
shall have the pick of my stable though I have to spend a month
rebreaking horses that have run away.”
“But it isn’t the difficulty of mounting them,” said Lord Frederic. “You
see I’ve never met any of these chaps.” He turned to Mr. Carteret
with a sudden inspiration. “Are any of them friends of yours?” he
asked.
Mrs. Ascott-Smith looked anxiously at Mr. Carteret, as if she feared
that it would develop that some of the people in the show were his
cousins.
“No,” he replied, “I don’t think so, although I may have met some of
them in crossing the reservations. But I once went shooting with
Grady, one of the managers of the show.”
“Better yet!” said Lord Frederic. “Do you think that he would come
and bring some of them down?” he asked.
“I think he would,” said Mr. Carteret. He knew that the showman was
strong in Grady—as well as the sportsman.
The Major rose to go to the billiard room. “I have one piece of advice
to give you,” he said. “This prank is harmless enough, but establish a
definite understanding with this fellow that you are not to be liable in
damages for personal injuries which his Indians may receive. Explain
to him that it is not child’s play and have him put it in writing.”
“You mean to have him execute a kind of release?” said Mr. Carteret.
“Precisely that,” said the Major. “I was once sued for twenty pounds
by a groom that fell off my best horse and let him run away, and
damme, the fellow recovered.” He bowed to the ladies and left the
room.
“Of course we can fix all that up,” said Lord Frederic. “The old chap
is a bit overcautious nowadays, but how can we get hold of this
fellow Grady?”
“I’ll wire him at once, if you wish,” said Mr. Carteret, and he went to
the writing table. “When do you want him to come down?” he asked,
as he began to write.
“We might take them out with the Quorn on Saturday,” said Lord
Frederic, “but the meet is rather far for us. Perhaps it would be better
to have them on Thursday with Charley Ploversdale’s hounds.”
Mr. Carteret hesitated a moment. “Wouldn’t Ploversdale be apt to be
fussy about experiments? He’s rather conservative, you know, about
the way people are turned out. I saw him send a man home one day
who was out without a hat. It was an American who was afraid that
hats made his hair come out.”
“Pish,” said Lord Frederic, “Charley Ploversdale is mild as a dove.”
“Suit yourself,” said Mr. Carteret. “I’ll make it Thursday. One more
question,” he added. “How many shall I ask him to bring down?” At
this moment the Major came into the room again. He had mislaid his
eyeglasses.
“I should think that a dozen would be about the right number,” said
Lord Frederic, replying to Mr. Carteret. “It would be very imposing.”
“Too many!” said the Major. “We must mount them on good horses
and I don’t want my entire stable ruined by men who have never
lepped a fence.”
“I think the Major is right about the matter of numbers,” said Mr.
Carteret. “How would three do?”
“Make it three,” said the Major.
Before dinner was over a reply came from Grady saying that he and
three bucks would be pleased to arrive Thursday morning prepared
for a hunting party.
This took place on Monday, and at various times during Tuesday and
Wednesday Mr. Carteret gave the subject thought. By Thursday
morning his views had ripened. He ordered his tea and eggs to be
served in his room and came down a little past ten dressed in
knickerbockers and an old shooting coat. He wandered into the
dining-room and found Mrs. Ascott-Smith sitting by the fire
entertaining Lord Frederic, as he went to and from the sideboard in
search of things to eat.
“Good morning,” said Mr. Carteret, hoarsely.
Lord Frederic looked around and as he noticed Mr. Carteret’s clothes
his face showed surprise.
“Hello!” he said, “you had better hurry and change, or you will be
late. We have to start in half an hour to meet Grady.”
Mr. Carteret coughed. “I don’t think that I can go out to-day. It is a
great disappointment.”
“Not going hunting?” exclaimed Mrs. Ascott-Smith. “What is the
matter?”
“I have a bad cold,” said Mr. Carteret miserably.
“But, my dear fellow,” exclaimed Lord Frederic, “it will do your cold a
world of good!”
“Not a cold like mine,” said Mr. Carteret.
“But this is the day, don’t you know?” said Lord Frederic. “How am I
going to manage things without you?”
“All that you have to do is to meet them at the station and take them
to the meet,” said Mr. Carteret. “Everything else has been arranged.”
“But I’m awfully disappointed,” said Lord Frederic. “I had counted on
you to help, don’t you see, and introduce them to Ploversdale. It
would be more graceful for an American to do it than for me. You
understand?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Carteret, “I understand. It’s a great disappointment,
but I must bear it philosophically.”
Mrs. Ascott-Smith looked at him sympathetically, and he coughed
twice. “You are suffering,” she said. “Freddy, you really must not urge
him to expose himself. Have you a pain here?” she inquired,
touching herself in the region of the pleura.
“Yes,” said Mr. Carteret, “it is just there, but I daresay that it will soon
be better.”
“I am afraid not,” said his hostess. “This is the way pneumonia
begins. You must take a medicine that I have. They say that it is
quite wonderful for inflammatory colds. I’ll send Hodgson for it,” and
she touched the bell.
“Please, please don’t take that trouble,” entreated Mr. Carteret.
“But you must take it,” said Mrs. Ascott-Smith. “They call it
Broncholine. You pour it in a tin and inhale it or swallow it, I forget
which, but it’s very efficacious. They used it on Teddy’s pony when it
was sick. The little creature died, but that was because they gave it
too much, or not enough, I forget which.”
Hodgson appeared and Mrs. Ascott-Smith gave directions about the
Broncholine.
“I thank you very much,” said Mr. Carteret humbly. “I’ll go to my room
and try it at once.”
“That’s a good chap!” said Lord Frederic, “perhaps you will feel so
much better that you can join us.”
“Perhaps,” said Mr. Carteret gloomily, “or it may work as it did on the
pony.” And he left the room.
After Hodgson had departed from his chamber leaving explicit
directions as to how and how not to use the excellent Broncholine,
Mr. Carteret poured a quantity of it from the bottle and threw it out of
the window, resolving to be on the safe side. Then he looked at his
boots and his pink coat and white leathers, which were laid out upon
the bed. “I don’t think there can be any danger,” he thought, “if I turn
up after they have started. I loathe stopping in all day.” He dressed
leisurely, ordered his second horse to be sent on, and some time
after the rest of the household had gone to the meet he sallied forth.
As he knew the country and the coverts which Lord Ploversdale
would draw, he counted on joining the tail of the hunt, thus keeping
out of sight. He inquired of a rustic if he had seen hounds pass and
receiving “no” for an answer, he jogged on at a faster trot, fearing
that the hunt might have gone away in some other direction.
As he came around a bend in the road, he saw four women riding
toward him, and as they drew near, he saw that they were Lady
Violet Weatherbone and her three daughters. These young ladies
were known as the Three Guardsmen, a sobriquet not wholly
inappropriate; for, as Lord Frederic described them, they were “big-
boned, upstanding fillies,” between twenty-five and thirty and very
hard goers across any country, and always together.
“Good morning,” said Mr. Carteret, bowing. “I suppose the hounds
are close by?” It was a natural assumption, as Lady Violet on hunting
days was never very far from the hounds.
“I do not know,” she responded, and her tone further implied that she
did not care.
Mr. Carteret hesitated a moment. “Is anything the matter?” he asked.
“Has anything happened?”
“Yes,” said Lady Violet frankly, “something has happened.” Here the
daughters modestly turned their horses away.
“Some one,” continued Lady Violet, “brought savages to the meet.”
She paused impressively.
“Not really!” said Mr. Carteret. It was all that he could think of to say.
“Yes,” said Lady Violet, “and while it would have mattered little to me,
it was impossible—” She motioned with her head toward the three
maidens, and paused.
“Forgive me,” said Mr. Carteret, “but do I quite understand?”
“At the first I thought,” said Lady Violet, “that they were attired in
painted fleshings, but upon using my glass, it was clear that I was
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