of St. Angelo, with an arrogant air.

"His princely rank," replied Waldershare, "but not his royalty."

"That is a mere refinement," said the duke contemptuously.

"On the contrary, a clear distinction, and specifically made in the
treaty. I do not think the prince himself would desire such a ceremony,
and let me recommend you, duke," added Waldershare, "not to go out of
your way to insist on these points. They will not increase the prince's
popularity."

"The time will come, and before long, when the Treaty of Vienna, with
its clear distinctions, will be at the bottom of the Red Sea," said the
Duke of St. Angelo, "and then no one will sit when His Majesty rises."

"Amen!" said Waldershare. "All diplomacy since the Treaty of Utrecht
seems to me to be fiddle-faddle, and the country rewarded the great man
who made that treaty by an attainder."

Endymion returned to town towards the end of September, Waldershare went
to Paris, and Lord Beaumaris and the prince, who had become intimate,
repaired together to Conington, the seat of Lord Beaumaris, to kill
pheasants. Even the Rodneys, who had gone to the Rhine this year, had
not returned. Endymion had only the society of his fellow clerks. He
liked Trenchard, who was acute, full of official information, and of
gentle breeding. Still it must be confessed that Endymion felt the
change in his society. Seymour Hicks was hardly a fit successor
to Waldershare, and Jawett's rabid abstractions on government were
certainly not so interesting as _la haute politique_ of the Duke of St.
Angelo. Were it not for the letters which he constantly received from
his sister, he would have felt a little despondent. As it was, he
renewed his studies in his pleasant garret, trained himself in French
and German, and got up several questions for the Union.

The month seemed very long, but it was not unprofitably spent. The
Rodneys were still absent. They had not returned as they had intended
direct to England, but had gone to Paris to meet Mr. Waldershare.

At the end of October there was a semi-official paragraph announcing the
approaching meeting of the Cabinet, and the movements of its members.
Some were in the north, and some were in the south; some were killing
the last grouse, and some, placed in green ridings, were blazing in
battues. But all were to be at their post in ten days, and there was a
special notification that intelligence had been received of the arrival
of Lord and Lady Roe