"I am glad to hear it, Percy; heartily glad. I reckoned on your good sense as well as upon your affection for me, and I am indeed glad that it is settled. I have had two or three talks on the subject with Annie. She says she hoped and thought you would retire, but that she would not say a word to influence you one way or the other. You are very fortunate in your wife, lad."
"I have been very fortunate all round, uncle; no man has more reason for being thankful and grateful than I have, to God in the first place for all the blessings I have received, and next to him to you."
"Tut, tut, Percy, you have brought as much pleasure into my life as I have into yours. Now, lad, you must consult your wife, and look about and decide where you would like to establish yourself. We will have a house in London, which I shall call mine, and you shall have a place in the country, with an estate big enough to be an amusement without being a trouble; or if you have no fancy for an estate, we will buy a place here, or anywhere else you and your wife wish to fix on.
"Thank you, uncle; we shall have plenty of time to talk that over. My present idea is that I have no desire whatever to become the possessor of an estate. The life is vastly more cheerful in a town like this, where we have any number of acquaintances, military and Indian, a good club, and something always going on, than it would be in the country, where, as I found while staying with some of Annie's relations, eight miles is considered a reasonable drive to a dinner party."
And so, a month later, Percy Groves retired from the service. His wife, having so many friends in the army, and having been brought up among military men, cordially agreed with him in preferring life near a large garrison town like Portsmouth to settling on an estate in the country, and three months later they were established in a large and comfortable house standing in its own grounds at Southsea. Colonel Groves proposed to Percy to go into parliament, and to take a prominent part in questions connected with India. Percy would not listen to the proposal; his Indian duties had, however, made him an adept with his pen; and beginning by writing occasional articles upon Indian subjects in which he felt a special interest, he became a regular contributor to one or two of the leading reviews, while his articles on Indian topics in the Times, signed "P.G.," attracted much attention.
This work kept up his connection with India, and afforded just that amount of pleasant occupation that is so necessary to men who, having led a busy and active life, have nothing but their family duties and pleasures and the ordinary routine of daily life to occupy their minds. Colonel Groves died some five years since, enjoying life to the last, and deeply regretted by his great-nephews and -nieces. Percy Groves is one of the best-known figures at Southsea and at the Oriental Club, and his grandchildren consider it the greatest of treats when they can persuade him to tell them stories of his experiences and adventures in the two campaigns that resulted in the Conquest of the Punjaub.
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH THE SIKH WAR ***