Lord Frogmore was about sixty when his step-brother, John Parke, his heir presumptive, announced to him one day his desire to marry. John was thirty-five, the son of another mother, with whom, however, Lord Frogmore had always lived in the best intelligence. A more indulgent elder brother could not be. He had never himself married, or even thought of doing so, so far as anybody knew. He had considered John’s interests in everything. Had he been his father instead of his elder brother he could not have been more thoughtful. Whether perhaps it was John’s advantage he was thinking of when he remained unmarried was another matter, though you would have supposed that was the elderly peer’s only notion to hear how John’s mother spoke of it. At all events it was very much to John Parke’s advantage. His creditors did not press him, his tailor and he were the best friends in the world, everything was in his favor in life, and in London, where even his little extravagancies were greatly encouraged and smiled upon. Heir presumptive, the Honorable John Parke: that one line in the “Peerage” made life very smooth for John.
