tween his teeth, 'How they will talk of this in England!'
The next moment, bursting into a hearty fit of laughter, he stepped
into the carriage, and amid a loud cheer from the mob, by whom he was
recognised, drove rapidly away.

Seated beside his grace, I saw nothing more of O'Grady, whose efforts to
ennoble the worthy attorney only exposed him to the risk of a black eye;
for no sooner did Paul perceive that he was undergoing rough treatment
than he immediately resisted, and gave open battle.

O'Grady accordingly left him, to seek his home on foot, followed by
Corny, whose cries and heart-rending exclamations induced a considerable
crowd of well-disposed citizens to accompany them to the Castle gate.
And thus ended the great Rooney ball.

CHAPTER XI. A NEGOTIATION

From what I have already stated, it may be inferred that my acquaintance
with the Rooneys was begun under favourable auspices. Indeed, from the
evening of the ball the house was open to me at all hours; and, as the
hour of luncheon was known to every lounger about town, by dropping in
about three o'clock one was sure to hear all the chit-chat and gossip
of the day. All the dinners and duels of the capital, all its rows and
runaway matches, were there discussed, while future parties of pleasure
were planned and decided on, the Rooney equipages, horses, servants, and
cellar being looked upon as common property, the appropriation of which
was to be determined on by a vote of the majority.

At all these domestic parliaments O'Grady played a prominent part. He
was the speaker and the whipper-in; he led for both the government and
the opposition; in fact, since the ever-memorable visit of the viceroy
his power in the house was absolute. How completely they obeyed, and how
implicitly they followed him, may be guessed, when I say that he even
persuaded Mrs. Rooney herself not only to abstain from all triumph on
the subject of their illustrious guest, but actually to maintain a kind
of diplomatic silence on the subject; so that many simple-minded people
began to suspect his grace had never been there at all, and that poor
Mrs. Rooney, having detected the imposition, prudently held her tongue
and said nothing about the matter. As this influence might strike my
reader as somewhat difficult in its exercise, and also as it presents a
fair specimen of my friend's ingenuity, I cannot forbear mentioning the
secret of its success.

When the duke awoke late in the