Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/238

 That Mr Whitelaw Reid more than fulfilled his promise may be gathered from the fact that two days later H. H. received a private letter from the P.M.G., stating his intention of making an interesting announcement in the House of Commons the following day:

In all probability I shall utter a statement at end of questions to-morrow (Wednesday) which will be of great interest to you. I let you know as you may like to be present.

Mr Whitelaw Reid also wrote to Lord Blyth:

Now that the matter 1s substantially settled I think I may, without impropriety, tell you confidentially, and authorize you to mention to Mr Henniker Heaton, that I received a despatch on May 30th from the Secretary of State, in reply to the communication I promised you to make. In this Mr Root said that the Postmaster-General was then absent for the week-end but the understanding was that no obstacle remained to an agreement upon a new postal arrangement with Great Britain on his return June 1st. I think Mr Buxton will also be ready to give you some cheerful information soon.

On the night of September 30th, 1908, H. H. dined with one of his sons at the United Service Club, and sat, after dinner, in a fever of impatience as the hands of the clock slowly crawled round to midnight. As the clock finished striking H. H. had the satisfaction