removed the badly damaged eye on 2 August. Ranjitsinhji's presence on a grouse shoot was a source of embarrassment to the authorities, who attempted to justify his presence in the area by hinting at his involvement in military business. He spent two months recuperating in Scarborough and after attending the funeral of W. G. Grace in Kent, he went to India for his sister's marriage and did not return to England before the end of the war. When Ranjitsinhji returned to India in 1915, Edith Borrisow remained in England. Her father died in 1917 and she and her sister moved away from Gilling, eventually settling in Staines (where Ranjitsinhji had a house). According to cricket writer E. H. D. Sewell, to whom Ranjitsinhji told the story, Ranjitsinhji asked Edith to marry him following her father's death. However, she refused as she had fallen in love with someone else, and the engagement ended after 18 years. Sewell also claimed that her father had come to approve of the proposed marriage. However, the story may not be reliable and Simon Wilde speculates that Borrisow had simply tired of waiting and broke off the engagement. It is likely the pair remained friends, but Ranjitsinhji was deeply affected by the end of the relationship. Final years Improvements in Nawanagar While Ranjitsinhji was in Europe at the start of the war, Berthon remained in Nawanagar as Administrator and began to implement modernisation programmes. He organised the clearance of slums in Jamnagar and new houses, shops and roads were built. Berthon's improvements in irrigation meant that dry weather in 1923 was inconvenient but not disastrous like previous droughts. He also improved the state's finances to the extent that the railway was finally extended as the British resident had suggested in 1907. Berthon continued in his role as Ranjitsinhji recovered from his injury, and the British Government wished him to remain in the position even when Ranjitsinhji was fully fit. Ranjitsinhji disagreed and threatened to abdicate if he was forced to retain Berthon. As a compromise, Berthon remained in Nawanagar but in an ostensibly more lowly position; in return, Ranjitsinhji was given more outward displays of favour, including the upgrading of Nawanagar to a 13-gun salute state and the centre of its liaison with the British was transferred from the Government of Bombay to the Government of India. Furthermore, Ranjitsinhji personally was entitled to a 15-gun salute