His Grace — page 155: what you’re looking at

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

HIS GRACE. 149 offer to Lady Charles, who, as he had anticipated, took him to task with some severity, for having sojourned in the tents of the ungodly. ‘I can’t see what was to prevent Paul Gascoigne from sending you home, con- sidering that he was able to send a dog-cart to fetch your clothes,” she pertinently remarked. “Why on earth did he want you to stay with him?” “Oh, if you come to that, I don’t know that he did so very particularly want it,” replied that foolish Hurst- bourne, thereby of course answering all the questions which his mother had not put. Lady Charles grunted and looked wise. Afterwards } she condescended to cross-examine me ; though I think that she did not stoop so far without a preliminary struggle between her pardonable curiosity and her sense of what was due to the exalted station in which Provi- dence had placed her. I did not tell her a great deal about Miss St. George, because, as I was able to as- sure her with perfect sincerity, I knew very little about that supercilious young lady ; but whether I had spoken or whether I had held my tongue, she would soon have known as much as I did. Wecould not find Miss St. George in any of the social books of reference to which we had recourse ; but it stood to reason that if she was Lady Deverell’s niece, she must be well-born, so that the chief question appeared to be whether she was physically and mentally fitted to carry on the illustri- ous line of the Gascoignes. That, Lady Charles de- clared was really the sole point which concerned her. Arthur must choose for himself and she would not dream of opposing his choice unless it should be a manifestly unwise one. All the same, I don’t think she was free from maternal jealousy, and I don’t think she Eomicboo cS (el 0)