He had been a widower for several years and was married a second time to a woman much younger than himself.The house party danced the first night after dinner. There was rather a shortage of girls and Sir Gerald promised that he would remedy this the following evening.“We are having a really large party after the cricket match,” he said, “for the simple reason I am quite sure that you will win it.”“We will be incredibly annoyed, Sir Gerald, if we don’t,” the Captain of the home team had replied.He looked at the Marquis as he spoke and added,“It will be up to you, Oliver.”“Now you are scaring me,” the Marquis responded. “But I will do my best.”Owing to the shortage of female partners, he spent some time after dinner politely talking to his host.“It is a great pleasure for me,” said Sir Gerald, “to host a cricket match here. Although I know my son has not been chosen for your Oxford eleven, I am hoping you will help him, as it is a game I would like to think he can excel in.”“I will do what I can, sir,”
