I only wish that
it could have been otherwise."
Lord Chiltern, when he left his sister's house, walked through the
slush and dirt to a haunt of his in the neighbourhood of Covent
Garden, and there he remained through the whole afternoon and
evening. A certain Captain Clutterbuck joined him, and dined with
him. He told nothing to Captain Clutterbuck of his sorrow, but
Captain Clutterbuck could see that he was unhappy.
"Let's have another bottle of 'cham,'" said Captain Clutterbuck, when
their dinner was nearly over. "'Cham' is the only thing to screw one
up when one is down a peg."
"You can have what you like," said Lord Chiltern; "but I shall have
some brandy-and-water."
"The worst of brandy-and-water is, that one gets tired of it before
the night is over," said Captain Clutterbuck.
Nevertheless, Lord Chiltern did go down to Peterborough the next day
by the hunting train, and rode his horse Bonebreaker so well in that
famous run from Sutton springs to Gidding that after the run young
Piles,--of the house of Piles, Sarsnet, and Gingham,--offered him
three hundred pounds for the animal.
"He isn't worth above fifty," said Lord Chiltern.
"But I'll give you the three hundred," said Piles.
"You couldn't ride him if you'd got him," said Lord Chiltern.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279