His Grace — page 240: what you’re looking at

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

234 HIS GRACE. in difficulties out of which his brother, the late duke, helped him repeatedly ; he had recourse—so, at least, I am led to infer—to various more or less discreditable expedients for raising the wind ; finally, in what I can only regard as an access of temporary insanity, he actually went the length of forging the duke’s name to a check. Detection was certain to follow, and did follow, with the result that you know of. All this, or the essential part of it, you have already heard; but to enable you to understand the letter which I shall pres- ently show you, I must mention that there was just one redeeming point in an otherwise—h’m—worthless char- acter. Lord Charles was, or at any rate pretended to be, devotedly attached to Miss Julia Nesfield, a lady who was at that time young and—er—no doubt beau- tiful, and with whom you are well acquainted under her present name of Lady Deverell.” I could not help ejaculating, “Oh, that’s it, is it? I see!” “Tf you mean, sir,” returned the narrator, looking severely at me, “ that you see why Lady Deverell would incur any sacrifice rather than permit her niece to marry the son of such a man as the late Lord Charles Gas- coigne, I can only applaud your perspicacity, although I hardly see by what means you have arrived at a perfectly just conclusion.” You can’t keep so sententious a donkey as that out of office. I would: defy any ministry, no matter how powerful, to do it, backed as he is by his position and his riches. “I was about to say,” he resumed, “when Mr. Mar- tyn interrupted me, that Miss Nesfield remained faith- ful to her unworthy admirer, notwithstanding the oppa- Gomicboo “S (E() m