‘Very,’ said Mr. Pole.  ’He must be a man of genius; he is so unlike everybody; the very tie of his cravat proves it.  And his hair, so savage and dishevelled; none but a man of genius would not wear powder.  Watch him to-day, and you will observe that he will not condescend to perform the slightest act like an ordinary mortal.  I met him at dinner yesterday at Fanshawe’s, and he touched nothing but biscuits and soda-water.  Fanshawe, you know, is famous for his cook.  Complimentary and gratifying, was it not?’

‘Dear me!’ said the lady, ’I am delighted to see him; and yet I hope I shall not sit by him at dinner.  I am quite afraid of him.’

‘He is really awful!’ said Mr. Pole.

In the meantime the subject of these observations slowly withdrew to the further end of the saloon, apart from every one, and threw himself upon a couch with a somewhat discontented air.  Lady Monteagle, whose eye had never left him for a moment, although her attentions had been necessarily commanded by her guests, and who dreaded the silent rages in which Cadurcis constantly indulged, and which, when once assumed for the day, were with difficulty dissipated, seized the first opportunity to join and soothe him.

‘Dear Cadurcis,’ she said, ’why do you sit here?  You know I am obliged to speak to all these odious people, and it is very cruel of you.’

‘You seemed to me to be extremely happy,’ replied his lordship, in a sarcastic tone.

‘Now, Cadurcis, for Heaven’s sake do not play with my feelings,’ exclaimed Lady Monteagle, in a deprecating tone.  ’Pray be amiable.  If I think you are in one of your dark humours, it is quite impossible for me to attend to these people; and you know it is the only point on which Monteagle ever has an opinion; he insists upon my attending to his guests.’

‘If you prefer his guests to me, attend to them.’

’Now, Cadurcis!  I ask you as a favour, a favour to me, only for to-day.  Be kind, be amiable, you can if you like; no person can be more amiable; now, do!’

‘I am amiable,’ said his lordship; ’I am perfectly satisfied, if you are.  You made me dine here.’

‘Now, Cadurcis!’

‘Have I not dined here to satisfy you?’

‘Yes!  It was very kind.’

’But, really, that I should be wearied with all the common-places of these creatures who come to eat your husband’s cutlets, is too much,’ said his lordship.  ’And you, Gertrude, what necessity can there be in your troubling yourself to amuse people whom you meet every day of your life, and who, from the vulgar perversity of society, value you in exact proportion as you neglect them?’

’Yes, but to-day I must be attentive; for Henry, with his usual thoughtlessness, has asked this new bishop to dine with us.’

‘The Bishop of——?’ inquired Lord Cadurcis, eagerly.  ‘Is he coming?’

‘He has been in the room this quarter of an hour?’