beat the bounds?

"Good God, no," I say. This will be quite unnecessary. I hope. I want to be in and out of their house, not ours, the trusted local expert who deals with unwanted works of art in much the same way that Skelton deals with the septic tank and the aperitifs, or the wonderful little man at the rectory with beating the bounds and comfort for the dying. Yes, I shall become another of their local little men. "I think I can get my drug baron to go a shade higher on Helen," I hear myself saying confidentially, not too many weeks from now. "You want him to take a look at your Double Dutchmen as well while I'm about...?"
上文中的beating the bounds作何解？词典上说与limit相当，但在这里似乎说不通。此外，with beating...一句中的with是否有语病？请各方家点拨。

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Meunique

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• well, I think... - dx 19991214072919
  • 谢谢！但not too many weeks from now这句我也觉得莫名其妙！再次请教各方家！ - Last Hermit 19991214112719
    • 离现在没剩几周了。 - pedant 19991214175713
    • Maybe 'I' was visualizing something 'I' expected to happen soon (within not too many weeks). Just a guess. - he zi 19991214191841
      • 愚见亦然，只觉得这句在这里太突兀而已。谢谢！ - Last Hermit 19991214224912
        • guesswork, more or less - hz 19991215000756

well, I think...

谢谢！但not too many weeks from now这句我也觉得莫名其妙！再次请教各方家！

离现在没剩几周了。

Maybe 'I' was visualizing something 'I' expected to happen soon (within not too many weeks). Just a guess.

愚见亦然，只觉得这句在这里太突兀而已。谢谢！

guesswork, more or less