His Grace — page 185: what you’re looking at

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

HIS GRACE. 179 guests had departed ; so it was not until the following morning that I was enabled to enter upon matters of business and finance. Then I was closeted for half an hour with my patron and with a grave representative of the firm of family lawyers, and then it was that my worst apprehensions were more thanconfirmed. Things were very bad indeed, and, as far as I could see,were going to be worse. It was not only that large sums had already been borrowed and that mortgages were freely spoken of, but that there were heavy debts of honor which must absolutely be discharged forthwith, and which there was not anything like enough of money in the bank to defray. “It just comes to this,” I said at length: “ you may be tided over this crisis; but only on condition that you enter at once upon a strict course of economy, which will have to be persevered in for several years to come. If you haven’t strength of mind enough to face that necessity, nobody and nothing in the world can save you from permanent ruin.” The man of law backed me up, though he stated his views with rather more deference and circumlocution ; but Hurstbourne did not seem to be greatly impressed by either of us. He said we should have to do the best we could and that, if he was to come to grief, he must come to grief. “ Anyhow I’m not quite at my last gasp yet,” he added. ‘“ The luck must turn some time, and, if there’s any justice, I ought to win a pot of money at Kempton Park and Manchester and Sandown. You fellows don’t understand that no man can race without running risks.” I ventured to think that was just what we did under- Gomicboo m