e had plunged, and now stood to lose some twenty thousand
pounds on the doings of the last night. And he had made these bets
under the influence of Major Tifto. It was the remembrance of this,
after the promise made to his father, that annoyed him the most.
He was imbued with a feeling that it behoved him as a man to "pull
himself together," as he would have said himself, and to live in
accordance with certain rules. He could make the rules easily enough,
but he had never yet succeeded in keeping any one of them. He had
determined to sever himself from Tifto, and, in doing that, had
intended to sever himself from affairs of the turf generally. This
resolution was not yet a week old. It was on that evening that he had
resolved that Tifto should no longer be his companion; and now he had
to confess to himself that because he had drunk three or four glasses
of champagne he had been induced by Tifto to make those wretched
bets.

And he had told his father that he intended to ask Mabel Grex to be
his wife. He had so committed himself that the offer must now be
made. He did not specially regret that, though he wished that he had
been more reticent. "What a fool a man is to blurt out everything!"
he said to himself. A wife would be a good thing for him; and where
could he possibly find a better wife than Mabel Grex? In beauty she
was no doubt inferior to Miss Boncassen. There was something about
Miss Boncassen which made it impossible to forget her. But Miss
Boncassen was an American, and on many accounts out of the question.
It did not occur to him that he would fall in love with Miss
Boncassen; but still it seemed hard to him that this intention of
marriage should stand in his way of having a good time with Miss
Boncassen for a few weeks. No doubt there were objections to
marriage. It clipped a fellow's wings. But then, if he were married,
he might be sure that Tifto would be laid aside. It was such a great
thing to have got his father's assured consent to a marriage. It
meant complete independence in money matters.

Then his mind ran away to a review of his father's affairs. It was a
genuine trouble to him that his father should be so unhappy. Of all
the griefs which weighed upon the Duke's mind, that in reference to
his sister was the heaviest. The money which Gerald owed at Cambridge
would be nothing if that other sorrow could be conquered. Nor had
Tifto and his own extravagance caused the Duke any incurable wounds.
If