What is that?"

"He is in every respect a man of character, and well looked upon
in the country. There would be some enmity and a good deal of
envy--which might be avoided by either of the courses I have
proposed; but those courses you will not take. I take it for granted
that you are anxious to secure the support of those who generally act
with Lord Drummond."

"I don't know that I am." The old Duke shrugged his shoulders. "What
I mean is, that I do not think that we ought to pay an increased
price for their support. His lordship is very well as the Head of
an Office; but he is not nearly so great a man as my friend Lord
Cantrip."

"Cantrip would not join us. There is no evil in politics so great
as that of seeming to buy the men who will not come without buying.
These rewards are fairly given for political support."

"I had not, in truth, thought of Lord Cantrip."

"He does not expect it any more than my butler."

"I only named him as having a claim stronger than any that Lord
Drummond can put forward. I have a man in my mind to whom I think
such an honour is fairly due. What do you say to Lord Earlybird?"
The old Duke opened his mouth and lifted up his hands in unaffected
surprise.

The Earl of Earlybird was an old man of a very peculiar character. He
had never opened his mouth in the House of Lords and had never sat
in the House of Commons. The political world knew him not at all. He
had a house in town, but very rarely lived there. Early Park, in the
parish of Bird, had been his residence since he first came to the
title forty years ago, and had been the scene of all his labours.
He was a nobleman possessed of a moderate fortune, and, as men said
of him, of a moderate intellect. He had married early in life and
was blessed with a large family. But he had certainly not been an
idle man. For nearly half a century he had devoted himself to the
improvement of the labouring classes, especially in reference to
their abodes and education, and had gradually, without any desire on
his own part, worked himself up into public notice. He was not an
eloquent man, but he would take the chair at meeting after meeting,
and sit with admirable patience for long hours to hear the eloquence
of others. He was a man very simple in his tastes, and had brought up
his family to follow his habits. He had therefore been able to do
munificent things with moderate means, and in the long course of
years had failed in hiding his munif