and being assured of this, Lord Montfort
remarked there was a young man of promise who much wished to enter the
House of Commons, not unknown, he believed, to Lord Beaumaris, and that
was Mr. Ferrars. He was the son of a distinguished man, now departed,
who in his day had been a minister of state. Lord Montfort was quite
ready to support Mr. Ferrars, if Lord Beaumaris approved of the
selection, but he placed himself entirely in his hands.

Lord Beaumaris, blushing, said he quite approved of the selection; knew
Mr. Ferrars very well, and liked him very much; and if Lord Montfort
sanctioned it, would speak to Mr. Ferrars himself. He believed Mr.
Ferrars was a Liberal, but he agreed with Lord Montfort, that in these
days gentlemen must be all of the same opinion if not on the same side,
and so on. And then they talked of fishing appropriately to a book of
very curious flies that was on the table, and they agreed if possible
to fish together in some famous waters that Lord Beaumaris had in
Hampshire, and then, as he was saying farewell, Lord Montfort added,
"Although I never pay visits, because really in my wretched state I
cannot, there is no reason why our wives should not know each other.
Will you permit Lady Montfort to have the honour of paying her respects
to Lady Beaumaris?"

Talleyrand or Metternich could not have conducted an interview more
skilfully. But these were just the things that Lord Montfort did not
dislike doing. His great good nature was not disturbed by a single
inconvenient circumstance, and he enjoyed the sense of his adroitness.

The same day the cards of Lord and Lady Montfort were sent to Piccadilly
Terrace, and on the next day the cards of Lord and Lady Beaumaris were
returned to Montfort House. And on the following day, Lady Montfort,
accompanied by Lady Roehampton, would find Lady Beaumaris at home, and
after a charming visit, in which Lady Montfort, though natural to the
last degree, displayed every quality which could fascinate even a woman,
when she put her hand in that of Imogene to say farewell, added, "I am
delighted to find that we are cousins."

A few days after this interview, parliament was dissolved. It was the
middle of a wet June, and the season received its _coup de grace_.
Although Endymion had no rival, and apparently no prospect of a contest,
his labours as a candidate were not slight. The constituency was
numerous, and every member of it expected to be called upon. To each M