"The truth is , as his son has said , Randolph was too much of an aristocrat , too self-centred , too imperious and impatiently irritable to be a good friend. He quarreled with almost everyone..."

" Jennings shook his head : ' Hes not so strong as you think ; in my opinion he's doomed. '. ' What on earth do you mean ? ' I exclaimed. ' I oughtn't to tell it I suppose ' he said , ' but Randolph told it to me casually enough when trying to explain a headache and a fit of depression , and its an interesting story.' Here it is as I heard it from Jennings that evening in Kensington Gore.
' Randolph was not a success at Oxford at first ' Jennings began. ' He never studied or read ; he rode to hounds at every opportunity and he was always as imperious as the devil. But after all , he was the son of a Duke and Blenheim was near and the best set made up to him , as Englishmen do. He was made a member of the Bullingdon Club , the smartest club in Oxford , and one evening he held forth there on his pet idea that the relationship of master and servant in the home of an English gentleman was almost ideal. '' Any talent in the child of a butler or gardener '' he said , '' would be noticed by the master , and of course he'd be glad to give the gifted boy an education and opportunity such as his father could not possibly afford. Something like this should be the relationship between the aristocratic class and the workmen in England : that is Tory democracy as I concieve it. '' Of course the youths all cheered him and complimented him and made much of him , and when the party was breaking up , one insisted on a '' stirrup cup. '' He poured out a glass of old brandy and filled it up with champagne and gave it to Randolph to drink. Nothing loath , Randolph drained the cup and with many good wishes all the youths went out into the night. Randolph assured me that after he had got into the air he remembered nothing more. I must now let Randolph tell his own story."

" Next morning , " Randolph began , " I woke with a dreadful taste in my mouth , and between waking and sleeping was thunder-struck. The paper on the walls was hideous - dirty - and , as I turned in bed , I started up gasping : there was an old woman lying beside me ; one thin strand of dirty grey hair was on the pillow. How had I got there ? What had happened to bring me to such a den ? I slid out of bed and put on shirt and trousers as quietly as I could , but suddenly the old woman in the bed awoke and said , smiling at me , ' Oh, Lovie , you're not going to leave me like that ? '
She had one yellow tooth in her top jaw that waggled as she spoke. Speechless with horror , I put my hand in my pocket and threw all the money I had loose on the bed. I could not say a word. She was still smiling at me ; I put on my waistcoat and coat and fled from the room. ' Lovie , you're not kind! ' I heard her say as I closed the door after me . Downstairs I fled in livid terror. In the street I found a hansom and gave the jarvy the address of a doctor I had heard about. As soon as I got to him , he told me he knew my ' brother and ...' I broke out in wild excitement , ' I want you to examine me at once. I got drunk last night and woke up in bed with an apalling old prostitute. Please examine me and apply some disinfectant. ' Well he went to work and said he could find no sign of any abrasion , but he made up a strong disinfectant and I washed the parts with it ; and all the time he kept on trying to console me , I suppose , with cheap commonplaces. ' There isn't much serious disease in Oxford. Of course , there should be licenced houses , as in France , and weekly or bi-weekly examination of the inmates. But then we hate grandmotherly legislation in England and really , my dear Lord Randolph , I don't think you have serious cause for alarm.' Cause for alarm indeed ; I hated myself for having been such a fool ! At the end I carried away a couple of books on venereal diseases and set at work to devour them. My mind was a nightmare. I made up my mind at once that I deserved gonorrhea for my stupidity. I even prayed to God , as to a maleficent deity , that he might give me that ; I deserved that , but no more , no worse : not a chancre , not syphilis !
There was nothing , not a sign , for a week. I breathed again. Yet I'd have to wait until the twenty-first day before I could be sure that I had escaped syphilis. Syphilis! Think of it , I who was so proud of my wisdom. On the fateful day nothing , not a sign. On the next the fool doctor examined me again : ' Nothing , Lord Randolph , nothing ! I congratulate you. You've got off , to all appearance , scott-free. '
A day later I was to dine with Jowett , the Master of Balliol. It was a Sunday and he had three or four people of importance to meet me. He put me on his left hand ; he was always very kind to me , was Jowett. I talked a lot but drank very sparingly. After that first mad excess , I resolved never to take more than two glasses of wine at any dinner and one small glass of liqueur or brandy with my coffee. I wouldn't risk being caught a second time. I was so thankful to God for my immunity that vows of reform were easy.
In the middle of dinner suddenly I felt a little tickling. Strange ! At once I was alarmed and cold with fear , excused myself and left the room. Outside I asked a footman for the lavatory , went in and looked at myself. Yes ! There was a little , round , very red pimple that tickled. I went out and begged the butler to excuse me to the Master. ' I am feeling very ill,' I said , ' and must go home.'
' You don't look very well ' he replied and in a minute I was in a hansom and on the way to the doctors. Luckily he was in and willing to see me. I told him what brought me and showed him the peccant member. At once he took out his most powerful lens and examined me carefully. When he had finished I asked him , ' Well ? '
' Well, ' he said dispassionately , ' we have there a perfect example of a syphilitic sore ! ' Why I didn't kill him , I don't know. Inwardly I raged that I should have been such a fool. I , who prided myself on my brains , I was going to do such great things in the world , to have caught syphilis ! It was too horrible to think of. Again the fool doctor : ' We must cure it ' he was saying. ' Its incurable ' I retorted , ' all the books admit that '. ' No, no ' he purred on. ' Taken in time we can make it innocuous. Mercury is a sovereign remedy , nothing equal to it , though very , very , depressing. Have you resolution enough to persevere with it ? Thats the question. '. ' You'll see ' I replied. ' Any other advice ? '' Absolute abstention from all alcoholic drink ' he said. ' I'll write you out a regimen , and if you follow it , in a year you will be cured and have no further ill effect'.
To cut a long story short , I did what he told me to do , but I was young and heedless and did not stop drinking in moderation and soon got reckless. Damn it , one can't grieve forever. Yet I have had very few symptoms since and before my marriage. The Oxford doctor , and a London man said I was quite clear of all weakness and perfectly cured."

" I was thrilled by the story : was there another chapter to it ? Was this what Jennings meant when he said that Randolph was doomed ? What else did he know or fear ? I had just found about Maupassant , had begun to attribute his ghastly fears to syphilis. But then Maupassant had taken little or no care to cure himself , while Randolph asserted that he had done everything he was told to do. I could not but ask ' Do you think it has injured Randolph's health ? '
'I'm sure of it ' Jennings nodded. ' He has fits of excessive irritability and depression which I don't like. In spite of what he told me , I don't think he took much care. He laughed at secondary symptoms, but now I hear he's going for a long holiday to South Africa under Beit's auspices and that may cure him. At any rate his fate no longer concerns me.'"

" A veil of the incalcuable shrouded the workings of his complex nature. No-one could tell what he would do , or by what motive , lofty or trivial , of conviction or caprice , of irritation or self-sacrifice , he would be governed."

" What Randolph wanted , using fair means or foul , Randolph always got."
( ' Blenheim ' , p.142 )