His Grace — page 102: what you’re looking at

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

96 HIS GRACE. abhorred this engagement; but I am not entitled to forbid it, and unless Nora breaks it off of her own accord, as I hope she will, I can do nothing.” “Oh, bosh!” he returned impatiently ; “ there’s no doubt about her wishing to break it off. All you have to do is to show a little sympathy and—and encourage- ment, don’t you know.” I did not take his advice. I said to myself that Nora would certainly come to me as soon as she had made up her mind, and perhaps I was not altogether pleased with Hurstbourne’s intervention, although, as I said before, his words only caused me a temporary uneasiness. During the next few days I confidently expected my sister to apply to me for counsel and con- solation, and she disappointed me by doing nothing of the sort. Indeed, I scarcely saw her: for when she was not out riding with Hurstbourne she was playing billiards or otherwise amusing herself with him. ‘There was nothing that I could detect at all resembling a flirtation between them : they were more like a couple of children than two grown-up people. At luncheon and at dinner they engaged in a perpetual squabble, _ to which Lady Charles and I listened with benevolent amusement: she criticised his horsemanship, while he did his best to get a rise out of her by pretending to doubt her knowledge of the subject under discussion : sometimes he was successful and chuckled gleefully over his success, sometimes she managed to provoke him into vainglorious boastings: it all sounded quite _ silly and harmless. So I went back to my figures, which, with all the pains that I bestowed upon them, could not be made to work out to my satisfaction, and reflected, foolishly <S (E(0) EOMmIcboo