fully dull work, my girl. And I shall find it
awfully dull too. I do not imagine that Mr. Sprugeon and Mr. Sprout
will be pleasant companions. Well; I shall stay there a day or two
and settle when I am to go down for the absolute canvass. I shall
have to go with my hat in my hand to every blessed inhabitant in that
dirty little town, and ask them all to be kind enough to drop in a
paper for the most humble of their servants, Ferdinand Lopez."

"I suppose all candidates have to do the same."

"Oh yes;--your friend, Master Fletcher, will have to do it." She
winced at this. Arthur Fletcher was her friend, but at the present
moment he ought not so to have spoken of him. "And from all I hear,
he is just the sort of fellow that will like the doing of it. It is
odious to me to ask a fellow that I despise for anything."

"Why should you despise them?"

"Low, ignorant, greasy cads, who have no idea of the real meaning of
political privileges;--men who would all sell their votes for thirty
shillings each, if that game had not been made a little too hot!"

"If they are like that I would not represent them."

"Oh yes, you would;--when you came to understand the world. It's
a fine thing to be in Parliament, and that is the way to get in.
However, on this visit I shall only see the great men of the
town,--the Sprouts and Sprugeons."

"Shall you go to Gatherum Castle?"

"Oh, heavens, no! I may go anywhere now rather than there. The Duke
is supposed to be in absolute ignorance of the very names of the
candidates, or whether there are candidates. I don't suppose that the
word Silverbridge will be even whispered in his ear till the thing is
over."

"But you are to get in by his friendship."

"Or by hers;--at least I hope so. I have no doubt that the Sprouts
and the Sprugeons have been given to understand by the Lococks and
the Pritchards what are the Duchess's wishes, and that it has also
been intimated in some subtle way that the Duke is willing to oblige
the Duchess. There are ever so many ways, you know, of killing a
cat."

"And the expense?" suggested Emily.

"Oh,--ah; the expense. When you come to talk of the expense things
are not so pleasant. I never saw such a set of meaningless asses in
my life as those men at the club. They talk and talk, but there is
not one of them who knows how to do anything. Now at the club over
the way they do arrange matters. It's a common cause, and I don't
see what right they have to ex