ed to this, but he had brought himself to think that he
must agree to it. But now, of course, the question would follow:--Who
was the indiscreet agent? Was the Duchess the person for whose
indiscretion he had had to pay L500 to Mr. Lopez? And in this matter
did he not find himself in accord even with Mr. Slide? "We should
hardly have thought that even a man so notoriously weak as the Duke
of Omnium would have endeavoured to ride out of responsibility by
throwing the blame upon his wife." He read and reread these words
till he knew them by heart. For a few moments it seemed to him to be
an evil in the Constitution that the Prime Minister should not have
the power of instantly crucifying so foul a slanderer;--and yet it
was the very truth of the words that crushed him. He was weak,--he
told himself;--notoriously weak, it must be; and it would be most
mean in him to ride out of responsibility by throwing blame upon his
wife. But what else was he to do? There seemed to him to be but one
course,--to get up in the House of Lords and declare that he paid the
money because he had thought it right to do so under circumstances
which he could not explain, and to declare that it was not his
intention to say another word on the subject, or to have another word
said on his behalf.

There was a Cabinet Council held that day, but no one ventured
to speak to the Prime Minister as to the accusation. Though he
considered himself to be weak, his colleagues were all more or less
afraid of him. There was a certain silent dignity about the man
which saved him from the evils, as it also debarred him from the
advantages, of familiarity. He had spoken on the subject to Mr. Monk
and to Phineas Finn, and, as the reader knows, very often to his old
mentor. He had also mentioned it to his friend Lord Cantrip, who was
not in the Cabinet. Coming away from the Cabinet he took Mr. Monk's
arm, and led him away to his own room in the Treasury Chambers.
"Have you happened to see an article in the 'People's Banner' this
morning?" he asked.

"I never see the 'People's Banner,'" said Mr. Monk.

"There it is;--just look at that." Whereupon Mr. Monk read the
article. "You understand what people call constitutional practice as
well as any one I know. As I told you before, I did pay that man's
expenses. Did I do anything unconstitutional?"

"That would depend, Duke, upon the circumstances. If you were to back
a man up by your wealth in an expensive contest,