His Grace — page 183: what you’re looking at

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

HIS GRACE. 177 For a few seconds he stood pinching his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger and looking a little glum ; then he pulled himself together, glanced at his watch and hurried towards the door of the library in which he had received me. “I can’t stop,” said he. “ You’ll make yourself at home and order what you want, won’t you?) Why didn’t you bring Miss Nora? I wishyouhad. There’s aroom all ready for her, you know, as soon as she cares to come and occupy it; but my mother will arrange about that with you.” Lady Charles, when I went upstairs to pay my re- spects to her, was indeed more pressing in her kindly offers of hospitality than I could have wished her to be, and it was no easy task to make the excuses which had to be made. There was, of course, no ostensible reason why Nora should not come up to town at once ; I could only fence this question by saying that perhaps she would come by-and-by ; that she was a little out of sorts at present and scarcely fit to face much fatigue, and so forth. I daresay Lady Charles might have smelt a rat if she had not been the most unsuspecting of women, and if she had not been a good deal pre- occupied with her own affairs and those of her son. “Tam afraid Arthur has been getting into difficul- ties,” she said rather anxiously—her speaking of Hurst- bourne as “Arthur” instead of “ His Grace,” was always a sure sign of mental disquietude on her part— “has he told you about them? No? Well, it isn’t really serious, I hope ; though he has been quite extraor- dinarily unfortunate with his horses so far.” “Tf he is in difficulties, he must be persuaded to retrench,” I observed. 12 Gomicboo “S (elo) m