His Grace — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

72 HIS GRACE. “If only we could go on like this—just you and I together, Phil—until we died, how glorious it would be?” she exclaimed. Then she sighed and added: “ However, since we can’t, and since it is always as well to have something reasonable to hope for, let us hope that the Duke of Hurstbourne won’t take it into his head to come here and disturb us this winter.” As far as I could see, there was no likelihood of our being interfered with in the way of which she spoke. Hurstbourne had gone from Scotland to Newmarket, and in his last letter he talked of spending the winter months at Melton. Wherever he went, he took his mother with him—which would, no doubt, have been a good thing, had Lady Charles been a different sort of woman. As it was, one could only admire his filial devotion and trust that her ladyship might show herself in some degree worthy thereof. It certainly did not occur to me that the death of Colonel Home, one of the county members, would affect any alterations in Hurstbourne’s plans ; yet it seemed that I had under- estimated my friend’s interest in the contemporary politics, for one morning in December I received the following telegram from him : “Must be home for election. Arrive to-morrow even- ing. Only self and mother for a few days.” The wording of the above missive was, it will be perceived, somewhat ambiguous. Did he mean that he and his mother were only coming for a few days or that other people would join them after afew days? Nora, being of a sanguine temperament, inclined to the former belief; my own impression was in favor of the 2Gom (@) boo <S) (E(0) m =)