at abruptly. "I think upon the whole we
did pretty well last Session," he said, standing still under an old
oak-tree.

"Pretty well," re-echoed the Duke.

"And I suppose we have not much to be afraid of next Session?"

"I am afraid of nothing," said the Duke.

"But--;" then Sir Orlando hesitated. The Duke, however, said not a
word to help him on. Sir Orlando thought that the Duke looked more
ducal than he had ever seen him look before. Sir Orlando remembered
the old Duke, and suddenly found that the uncle and nephew were very
like each other. But it does not become the Leader of the House of
Commons to be afraid of any one. "Don't you think," continued Sir
Orlando, "we should try and arrange among ourselves something of a
policy? I am not quite sure that a ministry without a distinct course
of action before it can long enjoy the confidence of the country.
Take the last half century. There have been various policies,
commanding more or less of general assent; free trade--." Here Sir
Orlando gave a kindly wave of his hand, showing that on behalf of his
companion he was willing to place at the head of the list a policy
which had not always commanded his own assent;--"continued reform
in Parliament, to which I have, with my whole heart, given my poor
assistance." The Duke remembered how the bathers' clothes were
stolen, and that Sir Orlando had been one of the most nimble-fingered
of the thieves. "No popery, Irish grievances, the ballot,
retrenchment, efficiency of the public service, all have had their
time."

"Things to be done offer themselves, I suppose, because they are in
themselves desirable; not because it is desirable to have something
to do."

"Just so;--no doubt. But still, if you will think of it, no ministry
can endure without a policy. During the latter part of the last
Session it was understood that we had to get ourselves in harness
together, and nothing more was expected from us; but I think we
should be prepared with a distinct policy for the coming year. I fear
that nothing can be done in Ireland."

"Mr. Finn has ideas--."

"Ah, yes;--well, your Grace. Mr. Finn is a very clever young man
certainly; but I don't think we can support ourselves by his plan of
Irish reform." Sir Orlando had been a little carried away by his own
eloquence and the Duke's tameness, and had interrupted the Duke. The
Duke again looked ducal, but on this occasion Sir Orlando did not
observe his countenance. "For myself,