ence," said Mary proudly.

"Fiddlestick!" said Mrs. Finn. "How is he to maintain you, or himself
either, if he goes on in that way? I shouldn't wonder if he didn't
get himself all wrong, even now." Then Mrs. Finn began to cry; and
Mary could only write to her lover, pointing out to him how very
anxious all his friends were that he should do nothing in a hurry.
But what if the thing were done already! Phineas in his great
discomfort went to seek further counsel from Madame Goesler. Of all
his counsellors, Madame Goesler was the only one who applauded him
for what he was about to do.

"But, after all, what is it you give up? Mr. Gresham may be out
to-morrow, and then where will be your place?"

"There does not seem to be much chance of that at present."

"Who can tell? Of course I do not understand,--but it was only the
other day when Mr. Mildmay was there, and only the day before that
when Lord de Terrier was there, and again only the day before
that when Lord Brock was there." Phineas endeavoured to make her
understand that of the four Prime Ministers whom she had named, three
were men of the same party as himself, under whom it would have
suited him to serve. "I would not serve under any man if I were an
English gentleman in Parliament," said Madame Goesler.

"What is a poor fellow to do?" said Phineas, laughing.

"A poor fellow need not be a poor fellow unless he likes," said
Madame Goesler. Immediately after this Phineas left her, and as he
went along the street he began to question himself whether the
prospects of his own darling Mary were at all endangered by his
visits to Park Lane; and to reflect what sort of a blackguard he
would be,--a blackguard of how deep a dye,--were he to desert Mary
and marry Madame Max Goesler. Then he also asked himself as to the
nature and quality of his own political honesty if he were to abandon
Mary in order that he might maintain his parliamentary independence.
After all, if it should ever come to pass that his biography should
be written, his biographer would say very much more about the manner
in which he kept his seat in Parliament than of the manner in which
he kept his engagement with Miss Mary Flood Jones. Half a dozen
people who knew him and her might think ill of him for his conduct
to Mary, but the world would not condemn him! And when he thundered
forth his liberal eloquence from below the gangway as an independent
member, having the fortune of his charming wife to