He went swiftly and silently, leaving her motionless.  She saw him far down on the pavement below step into his brougham, pausing for a moment to light a cigarette.  And half-an-hour later he walked with elastic tread into Mr. Ascough’s office.

Mr. Ascough greeted him with an inquiring smile.  Lord Arranmore nodded and sat down.

“You were quite right,” he announced.  “The tongues of men or of angels wouldn’t move her.  Never mind.  She’s going to use the money for charity.”

“Well, that’s something, at any rate,” Mr. Ascough remarked.

“The eloquence,” Lord Arranmore said, lazily, “which I have wasted upon that young woman would entrance the House of Lords.  By the bye, Ascough, I am going to take my seat next week.”

“I am delighted to hear it, your lordship.”

“Yes, it’s good news for the country, isn’t it?” Lord Arranmore remarked.  “I have not quite decided what my particular line shall be, but I have no doubt but that the papers will all be calling me a welcome addition to that august assembly before long.  I believe that’s what’s the matter with me.  I want to make a speech.  Do you remember me at the Bar, Ascough?  Couldn’t keep me down, could they?”

Mr. Ascough smiled.

“You were rather fond of being on your feet!” he admitted.

Lord Arranmore sighed regretfully.

“And to think that I might have been Lord High Chancellor by now,” he remarked.  “Good-bye, Ascough.”

* * * * *

Later, at the reception of a Cabinet Minister, Lord Arranmore came across Hennibul talking with half-a-dozen other men.  He detached himself at once.

“This is odd,” he remarked, with a whimsical smile.  “What the dickens are you doing in this respectable household, Arranmore?  You look like a lost sheep.”

Lord Arranmore shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve decided to go in for something,” he said; “politics or society or something of that sort.  What do you recommend?”

“Supper!” Mr. Hennibul answered, promptly.

“Come on then,” Lord Arranmore assented.  “One of those little tables in the far room, eh?”

“The pate here is delicious,” Mr. Hennibul said; “but for Heaven’s sake leave the champagne alone.”  “There’s some decent hock.  You’ll excuse my pointing out these little things to you, but, of course, you don’t know the runs yet.  I’ll give you a safe tip while I’m about it.  The Opposition food is beastly, but the wine is all right—­Pommery and Heidsieck, most of it, and the right years.  The Government food now is good, but the wine, especially the champagne, is positively unholy.”

“One should eat then with the Government, and drink with the Opposition,” Lord Arranmore remarked.

“Or, better still,” Mr. Hennibul said, “do both with the Speaker.  By the bye, did you know that they are going to make me a judge?”

“I heard that your friends wanted to get rid of you!” Arranmore answered.