Something must be done. Further efforts must be made. The idea struck
him that he would go and see his uncle, Lord Selsey, about it. He knew
Uncle Ted was really fond of him, and wouldn't like to see his life
ruined (so he put it to himself), and his heart broken, though he also
probably would disapprove from the worldly point of view. Decidedly
unhappy, yet to a certain extent enjoying his misery, Cecil went
to sleep.




CHAPTER VIII


Lord Selsey


The mere thought of confiding in Lord Selsey was at once soothing and
bracing. He was a widower with no children, and Cecil was by way of
being his heir. Since the death of his wife he lived in a kind of
cultured retirement in a large old house standing a little by itself in
Cambridge Gate. He used to declare that this situation combined all the
advantages of London and the country, also that the Park that was good
enough for the Regent was good enough for him. He had a decided cult for
George IV; and there was even more than a hint of Beau Brummel in his
dress. The only ugly thing in the house was a large coloured print of
the pavilion at Brighton.


In many ways Lord Selsey was Cecil's model; and unconsciously, in his