Our Boys
John Bayley, 28 November 1996
“... to marry the adroit Augustine Birrell, later Secretary of State for Ireland and an indefatigable turner-out of occasional light essays –‘Birrelling’, it came to be called. Emily, as usual, loved and welcomed, but Alfred was deeply suspicious. ‘Why do you want to force an entry into my family?’ he asked his prospective son-in-law, saying aloud what ... ”