'
'There are fewer who would. When they came into my bedroom that
morning and told me that the horse could not run, I thought I
should have broken my heart. Seventy thousand pounds gone!'
'Seventy thousand pounds!'
'And the honour and glory of winning the race! And then the
feeling that one had been so awfully swindled! Of course I had to
look as though I did not care a straw about it, and to go and see
the race, with a jaunty air and a cigar in my mouth. That is what
I call hard work.'
'But you did it!'
'I tried. I wish I could explain to you my state of mind that day.
In the first place the money had got to be got. Though it was to
go into the hands of swindlers, still it had to be paid. I don't
know how your father and Percival get on together,--but I felt like
the prodigal son.'
'It is very different with papa.'
'I suppose so. I felt very like hanging myself when I was alone
that evening. And now everything is right again.'
'I am glad that everything is right,' she said, with a strong
emphasis on everything.
'I have done with racing at any rate.
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