His Grace — page 160: what you’re looking at

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

IS4 HIS GRACE. scholarly, and I had not only compelled him to learn it off by heart, but had made him spout it out to me several times, with appropriate emphasis and gesticu- lation. He acquitted himself, upon the whole, very fairly well, and I don’t know what Nora, who attended one of our rehearsals, can have meant by saying that such a harangue, coming from the lips of the Duke of Hurstbourne, would have sounded quite as natural, and even more impressive, if I had put it into blank verse. The truth, I suppose is, that my poor Nora was feeling sore and savage; and everybody, I am sure, will agree with me, that the very last weapon which a woman in that sad plight should attempt to wield is irony. Well, Heaven knows that I bore no malice; nor did Hurstbourne (which was the worst of it), and the whole four of us drove over to Lavenham Road in our best clothes, and an open carriage, and spirits which were at least superficially excellent. The terrier skirmished about over our knees, and, as his antics gave us some- thing to talk about, he was a welcome addition to the party. It was understood, though I don’t think any actual statement had been made to that effect, that he was to be dispatched to London by rail; still I may safely say that it was no great surprise to any of us to recognize Mr. Gascoigne’s carriage outside the station, or to encounter Lady Deverell and Miss St. George on the platform. For my own part, I confess that I was momentarily surprised on learning that the ladies were not bound for the same destination as ourselves, and that our meeting with them was a mere coincidence, due to the circumstance that the northward and south- ward expresses happened to pass through Lavenham Eomichboo (@) CS (E(e)