was so specially Lady Glencora that she ought to
have been Lady Glencora to the end. Everybody calls her Duchess, but
it does not sound half so nice."

"And is he altered?"

"Not in the least. You can trace the lines of lingering regret upon
his countenance when people be-Grace him; but that is all. There was
always about him a simple dignity which made it impossible that any
one should slap him on the back; and that of course remains. He is
the same Planty Pall; but I doubt whether any man ever ventured to
call him Planty Pall to his face since he left Eton."

"The house was full, I suppose?"

"There were a great many there; among others Sir Gregory Grogram, who
apologised to me for having tried to--put an end to my career."

"Oh, Phineas!"

"And Sir Harry Coldfoot, who seemed to take some credit to himself
for having allowed the jury to acquit me. And Chiltern and his wife
were there for a day or two."

"What could take Oswald there?"

"An embassy of State about the foxes. The Duke's property runs into
his country. She is one of the best women that ever lived."

"Violet?"

"And one of the best wives."

"She ought to be, for she is one of the happiest. What can she wish
for that she has not got? Was your great friend there?"

He knew well what great friend she meant. "Madame Max Goesler was
there."

"I suppose so. I can never quite forgive Lady Glencora for her
intimacy with that woman."

"Do not abuse her, Lady Laura."

"I do not intend,--not to you at any rate. But I can better
understand that she should receive the admiration of a gentleman than
the affectionate friendship of a lady. That the old Duke should have
been infatuated was intelligible."

"She was very good to the old Duke."

"But it was a kind of goodness which was hardly likely to recommend
itself to his nephew's wife. Never mind; we won't talk about her now.
Barrington was there?"

"For a day or two."

"He seems to be wasting his life."

"Subordinates in office generally do, I think."

"Do not say that, Phineas."

"Some few push through, and one can almost always foretell who
the few will be. There are men who are destined always to occupy
second-rate places, and who seem also to know their fate. I never
heard Erle speak even of an ambition to sit in the Cabinet."

"He likes to be useful."

"All that part of the business which distresses me is pleasant
to him. He is fond of arrangements, and delights in little party
su