A GENTLEMAN'S WORD. 19 



possibly have known). He begged my brother's 

 acceptance of a hundred-pound note for his trouble, 

 and asked him to keep the horse, which John did, and 

 won a race or two at Newmarket with him, though 

 he was never very good. 



I must say that Mr. Greville's action on this occasion 

 was a great surprise to me. He was just the last 

 person in the world that I should have thought 

 would have been guilty of anything of the kind. 

 For supposing, which is quite possible, that instead of 

 one horse, he had instructed my brother to purchase 

 ten horses at the same or even a larger price, the 

 latter would as undoubtedly have faithfully executed 

 the commission, as Mr. Greville would as assuredly, 

 I may take it, have repudiated the whole transaction 

 without regard to the result, which might have been 

 my brother's ruin. This is one instance, of which I 

 fear there may be too many, when the word of a 

 gentleman unfortunately is not always to be taken in 

 its bare simplicity ; and proves that in this, as in 

 other things, ' the great ones of the earth ' will be 

 found very much like the rest of mankind. 



This was the first time I found Mr. Padwick run 

 from his word, in which I had implicitly trusted ; for 

 had he not trusted me in the same frank way in the 

 purchase of Alvediston? and could I let 'ingratitude 

 so besmear me ' as to be less confiding in him ? 

 However, it taught me a lesson that has been useful 

 in after life and to the present day. We have all 



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