He had never troubled himself
to consider whether there might not possibly be a better way of getting
rid of one's life. He was as God had made him, and was perfectly
satisfied with himself and the universe; save at such times as when a
favourite horse went lame, or his banker wrote to tell him that his
account was overdrawn.
Sir George had no children; he had never had a serious care in his life.
He never thought, he never read. Lady Kirkbank declared that she had
never seen him with a book in his hands since their marriage.
'I don't believe he would know at which end to begin,' she said.
What was the specific charge which the very particular people brought
against Lady Kirkbank? Such charges rarely _are_ specific. The idea that
the lady belonged to the fast and furious section of society, the
Bohemia of the upper ten, was an idea in the air. Everybody knew it. No
one could quite adequately explain it.
From thirty to fifty Lady Kirkbank had been known as a flirty matron.
Wherever she went, a train of men went with her; men young and
middle-aged and elderly; handsome youths from the public offices; War,
Admiralty, Foreign Office, Somerset House young men; attractive men of
mature years, with grey moustachios, military, diplomatic, horsey, what
you will, but always agreeable.
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