nces were against him. He must cover as much ground
as he could before the pack was on his heels. So he brought in his
bills, made his speeches, fluttered the dovecote of many a prejudice and
many an interest, was the idol of the people, and never had a quiet
hour.

Besides its more serious effects, the Premier's absorption in public
affairs had the result of blinding him to the change that had gradually
been coming over his own house. Norburn had always been in and out every
hour; he was in and out still, but now he came straight from the street
door to the Premier's room, and went straight back thence to the street
door again. The visits to Daisy, which had been wont to precede and
follow, perhaps even sometimes to occasion, business conferences, ceased
almost entirely; and the young Minister's brow bore a weight of care
that the precarious position of the Cabinet was not alone enough to
account for. It would seem as if Daisy must have noticed Norburn's
altered ways, although her father did not; but she made no reference to
them, and appeared to be aware of nothing which called for explanation
or remark. Perhaps she missed Norburn's visits less because his place
was so often filled by Dick Derosne, who, unable to find, or perhaps
scorning, any pretext of business, came with the undisguised object of
seeing the Premier's daughter, and not the Premier.

Whatever differences Eleanor Scaife and other studious inquirers may
discover between young communities and old, it is safe to say that there
are many points of resemblance: one of them is that, in both, folk talk
a good deal about their neighbours' affairs. The stream of gossip, which
Dick's indiscreet behaviour at Sir John Oakapple's dance had set
a-flowing, was not diminished in current by his subsequent conduct. Some
people believed that he was merely amusing himself, and were very much
or very little shocked according to their temperaments and their views
on such matters; others, with great surprise and regret, were forced to
believe him serious, and wondered what he could be thinking of; a third
class took the line sanctioned by the eminent authority of Mr. Tomes,
and hailed the possibility of a union of more than private importance.
Such a diversity of opinion powerfully promoted the interchange of
views, and very soon there were but few people in Kirton society,
outside the two households most concerned, who were not watching the
progress of the affair.

The c