Other guests to make Christmas
merry there were none. As he looked round at the large rooms he
reflected that he himself was there only for a special purpose. It
was his duty to break the news of his intended marriage to his
father. As he stood before the fire, thinking how best he might do
this, it occurred to him that a letter from a distance would have
been the ready and simple way. But then it had occurred to him
also, when at a distance, that a declaration of his purpose face
to face was the simplest and readiest way. If you have to go
headlong into the water you should take your plunge without
hesitating. So he told himself, making up his mind that he would
have it all out that evening.
At dinner Lady Mabel sat next to his father, and he could watch
the special courtesy with which the Duke treated the girl who he
was so desirous of introducing to his house. Silverbridge could
not talk about the election of Polpenno because all conversation
about Tregear was interdicted by the presence of his sister. He
could say nothing as to the Runnymede hunt and the two
thunderbolts which had fallen on him, as Major Tifto was not a
subject on which he could expatiate in the presence of his father.
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