‘Prince Dwala? We have no right to ask it of him. His fortune is very small, for a Prince; and I look upon the British nation and the Liberal Party as trustees to see that he gets it intact. I myself have already incurred very heavy expenses.’
‘Oh, you shouldn’t spend your own money.’
‘That’s just it; I want the Party to help with their funds.’
‘Well, well; if the cause is a good one. We might wait a few months, and see what people think.’
‘But the case will be over.’
‘One can’t help that. We mustn’t rush things.’
Nothing could budge the great man from his attitude of caution and delay. It was evident that, in the absence of his secretary with the pencil, he conceived only the vaguest idea of the question in hand. Mr. Cato went home at last, expressing the heroic resolution to fight the case on his own money, even if it ruined him.
VIII
Mr. Cato’s work was no light matter. He followed the case in every stage; he explained it all to the solicitors, and re-explained it to different layers of barristers. Every new document was submitted to him for revision. He was tormented all the time by anxiety for the future; his fortune was not a large one, and he had to reduce his capital to a very serious extent in order to meet the preliminary expenses of the case. The Prince, his guest, must indeed miss no comfort in his house; but in every other respect he enjoined the strictest economy on his sisters.
There were other things also to be thought of. The Prince’s ignorance on many subjects was astonishing; his questions showed it. This was, of course, natural in a native; but if he was to be a social success in England, then, in spite of his age, it was necessary that he should have some education. The Prince raised no objection. He had taken quite a fancy to Miss Briscoe, who appeared at first in the character of a guest at lunch, with no suggestion of the governess about her. A big genial woman of fifty, with thick black eyebrows, and an indomitable belief in the Christian fellowship of all men in this wonderful world, she brought light into Dwala’s life.