Brigadier General Norris, C.M.G., and Lady Elfreda Norris proceeded to East Africa at the end of January. The climate suits them, they get on well with the natives and they like the life immensely. So far there is not a cloud on their horizon. Just at first General Norris was a trifle anxious about money, because the daughter of even an impoverished marquis is apt to think expensively. But early in March Grandpapa Angora died at the ripe age of eighty-seven and the old gentleman really “cut up” better than most people expected. Anyhow, when the will was proved each of his grandchildren benefited to the tune of thirty thousand pounds. Moreover, in the year 1916, George Norris, or Captain Norris as he was then, on the advice of a friend in the City invested the whole of his savings in Burmah Oil, and like a wise young man forgot all about the matter for several years. So you see, there’s really no need for the young couple to worry about money.
However, these are mundane matters. What is vastly more important is that the Lady Elfreda Norris has already presented to the Empire a sturdy young male. And if the printers come out again on strike, before this work sees the light she is quite likely to have presented it with another one.
It is very doubtful if Lady Duckingfield will ever be a Miss Cholmondeley or a Mrs. Humphry Ward. Charlotte Brontë is out of the question. 4b Berkeley Square and Mount Pleasant, Wolverhampton, are really so comfortable that all thought of “sturm und drang” has passed for ever. And no one can be a Charlotte Brontë without it. Still, Lady Duckingfield is not quite dead to ambition. The Saturday Sentinel paid her such charming compliments on her essay, “The Art of Mr. Galsworthy,” that she has in contemplation critical estimates of other modern novelists. Her next subject will be...?
No, please guess again....
However.
There is no moral to this story. Life itself has no moral. The most deserving people don’t always come out “on top.” And vice versa.
Transcriber’s Notes:
On page 30, Satuday as been changed to Saturday.
On page 36, My has been changed to Mr.
On page 70, ensue has been changed to ensure.