uncle who seemed to have made up his mind to in extravagance i used to get my coloured gloves from the royal when the war broke out in i was cut off from them for nine years had it not been for a which i specially hired to them might have been reduced to english tan the english are excellent at a flat iron or a kitchen but anything more delicate is beyond them our are good cried my uncle but our lack taste and variety the war has made us more than ever it has cut us off from travel and there is nothing to match travel for the mind last year for example i came upon some new in the square of san at it was yellow with the prettiest little of pink running through it how could i have seen it had stone i not travelled i brought it back with me and for a time it was all the rage the prince took it up yes he usually follows my lead we dressed so alike last year that we were frequently mistaken for each other it tells against me but so it was he often that things do not look as well upon him as upon me but how can i make the obvious reply by the way george i did not see you at the of s yes i was there and lingered for a quarter of an hour or so i am surprised that you did not see me i did not go past the doorway however for undue preference gives rise to jealousy i went early said my uncle for i had heard that there were to be some tolerable d it always pleases me vastly when i am able to pass a compliment to any of them it has happened but not often for i keep to my own standard so they talked these singular men and i looking from one to the other could not imagine how they could help bursting out a laughing in each other s faces but on the contrary their conversation was very grave and filled out with many little bows and opening and shutting of snuff boxes and of handkerchiefs s quite a crowd had gathered silently around and i could see that the talk had been regarded as a contest between two men who were looked upon as rival of fashion it was finished by the of passing his arm through s and leading him off while my uncle threw out his shirt front and shot his as if he were well satisfied with his share in the encounter it is seven years since i looked upon that circle of and where now are their dainty little hats their wonderful and their boots in which one could arrange one s they lived strange lives these men and they died strange deaths � some by their own hands some as beggars some in a s some like the most brilliant of them all in a in a foreign land there is the card room said my uncle as we passed an open door on our way out glancing in i saw a line of little green tables with small groups of men sitting round while at one side was a longer one from which there came a continuous murmur of voices you may lose what you like in there save only your nerve or your temper my uncle continued ah sir i trust that the luck was with you a tall thin man with a hard austere face stone had stepped out of the open doorway his heavily eyebrows covered quick grey eyes and his gaunt features were at the cheek and temple like water flint he was dressed entirely in black and i noticed that his shoulders swayed a little as if he had been drinking lost like the deuce he snapped no you couldn t get very hard hit over that couldn t you he play a hundred a trick and a thousand on the rub losing steadily for five hours and see what you think of it my uncle was evidently struck by the haggard look upon the other s face i hope it s not very bad he said bad enough it won t bear talking about by the way have you got man for this fight yet no you seem to be hanging m the wind a long time it s play or pay you know i shall claim if you don t come to scratch if you will name your day i shall produce my man sir said my uncle coldly this day weeks if you like very good the th of may s i hope to have changed my name by then � how is that asked my uncle in surprise it is just possible that i may be lord what you have had some news cried my uncle and i noticed a tremor in his voice i ve had my agent over at and he believes he has proof that died there anyhow it is absurd to suppose that because a murderer chooses to fly from justice i won t have you use that word sir cried my uncle sharply you were there as i was you know that he was a murderer i tell you that you shall not say so sir s fierce little grey eyes had to lower themselves before the imperious anger which shone in my uncle s well to let that point pass it is monstrous to suppose that the title and the estates can remain hung up in this way for ever i m the heir and i m going to have my rights i am as you are aware lord s dearest friend said my uncle sternly his disappearance has not affected my love for him and until his fate is finally ascertained i shall exert myself to see that his 