294 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



companion. He was one of the " four " at 

 whist that night, and partnered Sir Charles. At 

 the beginning of the " hand ** Father Reilly, 

 who was the dealer, turned up the ace of spades 

 as the last card. Imagine, therefore, our surprise 

 when, while the third trick was in progress, Sir 

 Charles played what appeared to be the ace of 

 spades. We immediately accused him of leger- 

 demain. An " inquest ** was held, and we dis- 

 covered that the " ace " Sir Charles produced 

 was, in fact, the joker. That, however, did not 

 entirely solve the puzzle, because we could not 

 make out how, with the joker in the pack, a 

 misdeal had been avoided. Sir Charles wanted 

 to discard his illegitimate ** ace " and proceed 

 with the game, but we would not adopt that 

 suggestion. I used to visit Sir Charles at Tad- 

 worth Court, near Epsom, especially in race 

 weeks. He continued his visits to Kingsclere 

 until just before his death. He bred one or two 

 racehorses. Sir Charles Mathews is another 

 good legal friend of mine, and he occasionally 

 came on a visit to Kingsclere. Nor must I forget 

 to mention Baron Martin, who once helped me 

 out of a difficulty. 



