Thus the letter ended, with a commendation of me to the care of the Almighty.
I sat, gasping; the gossips gaped round me; the Vicar seemed stunned.

At last somebody grumbled, "I do not love these Guards.

What need of guard has the King except in the love of his subjects ?" "So his father found, did he ?" cried the Vicar, an aflame in a moment.
"The Life Guards!" I murmured.

"It is the first regiment of all in honour." "Ay, my lad," said the Vicar.

"It would have been well enough for you to serve in the ranks of it, but to hold His Majesty's Commission!" Words failed him, and he flew to the landlord's snuff-box, which that good man, moved by subtle sympathy, held out, pat to the occasion.
Suddenly those words of my lord's that had at the time of their utterance caught my attention so strongly flashed into my mind, seeming now to find their explanation.