His Grace — page 119: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

HIS GRACE. 113 his chin an inch and a half and looked huffy. Al- together, it was scarcely one of those days which de- serve to be marked with a white stohe. What sort of a stone ought to have marked the day on which Mr. Gascoigne, accompanied by his fair visi- tors, came to partake of luncheon with us I can’t pre- tend to decide. Such questions depend, of course, upon the point of view of the individual who holds the stone: and if, on that occasion, I had held a stone in my hand and had possessed perfect freedom of action, I really don’t know whether I should have hurled the missile at Paul Gascoigne’s head or at Lady Deverell’s or at Miss St. George’s. They were all of them, in their several ways, so extremely disagreeable. However, I take it that Hurstbourne did not find Miss St. George disagreeable, whatever may have been his opinion with regard to the two others. It was with the two others that Nora and I and poor | Lady Charles had to deal. I don’t mind admitting now that they got the better of us; because there are, after all, certain contests in which it is more honorable to be vanquished than to conquer, and although it may be that we should have said as many nasty things as they did if we had been clever enough and rude enough, I am sure we consulted our own dignity by remaining strictly on the defensive. Lady Deverell, who was an honest woman, insulted us all pretty openly. She appeared to have a violent prejudice against Hurst- bourne; she despised Lady Charles; she was dis- pleased with Nora, and she had always, I believe, regarded me as being three-fourths of a fool and a quarter of a knave. Her observations were not agree- able ; still they were not as offensive as those of Mr. 8 GComichboo cS m