t the same time as despatches announcing the Annexation。 When the Proclamation will go I cannot say； but I think it will be in the course of the next fortnight。 We received news to…night that the troops and guns are on the way to Newcastle。 I shall start by mail following the issue of the Proclamation。
We are going on as usual here working in the dark （we are beginning to emerge now） and waiting the result。 It has been an anxious business； but I think that we are all right now。
I had rather that my letters were not shown； as we do not quite know what line the Home Government is going to take； and I have spoken pretty plainly。 ＇All these letters to which I refer here are missing。 — H。 R。 H。＇
It was after my return from Secocoeni’s and； I think； within a day or two of the Proclamation being issued； that I received that harsh epistle from my father of which I have written earlier in this book； that； as I have said； caused me at the last moment not to start for England。 It was a very foolish act on my part； as the reader who studies the facts will see。 I should have remembered that when he wrote his letter my father could not have known that I was ing home in this important position； namely to give viva…voce information to Lord Carnarvon as to all the circumstances connected with the Annexation。 Nor； although I have little doubt that my mother and my sister Mary； now Baroness A。 d’Ahan； were privy to the secret and private reasons for my journey； to which