“It was most improper language,—­and if you used it to me, I am sure you would to others.”

“To what others?”

“To Mr. Finn,—­and those sort of people.”

“Call Mr. Finn A 1 to his face!  Well,—­upon my honour I don’t know why I should not.  Lord Chiltern says he rides beautifully, and if we were talking about riding I might do so.”

“You have no business to talk to Lord Chiltern about Mr. Finn at all.”

“Have I not?  I thought that perhaps the one sin might palliate the other.  You know, aunt, no young lady, let her be ever so ill-disposed, can marry two objectionable young men,—­at the same time.”

“I said nothing about your marrying Mr. Finn.”

“Then, aunt, what did you mean?”

“I meant that you should not allow yourself to be talked of with an adventurer, a young man without a shilling, a person who has come from nobody knows where in the bogs of Ireland.”

“But you used to ask him here.”

“Yes,—­as long as he knew his place.  But I shall not do so again.  And I must beg you to be circumspect.”

“My dear aunt, we may as well understand each other.  I will not be circumspect, as you call it.  And if Mr. Finn asked me to marry him to-morrow, and if I liked him well enough, I would take him,—­even though he had been dug right out of a bog.  Not only because I liked him,—­mind!  If I were unfortunate enough to like a man who was nothing, I would refuse him in spite of my liking,—­because he was nothing.  But this young man is not nothing.  Mr. Finn is a fine fellow, and if there were no other reason to prevent my marrying him than his being the son of a doctor, and coming out of the bogs, that would not do so.  Now I have made a clean breast to you as regards Mr. Finn; and if you do not like what I’ve said, aunt, you must acknowledge that you have brought it on yourself.”

Lady Baldock was left for a time speechless.  But no card was sent to Phineas Finn.

CHAPTER XLIII

Promotion

Phineas got no card from Lady Baldock, but one morning he received a note from Lord Brentford which was of more importance to him than any card could have been.  At this time, bit by bit, the Reform Bill of the day had nearly made its way through the committee, but had been so mutilated as to be almost impossible of recognition by its progenitors.  And there was still a clause or two as to the rearrangement of seats, respecting which it was known that there would be a combat,—­probably combats,—­carried on after the internecine fashion.  There was a certain clipping of counties to be done, as to which it was said that Mr. Daubeny had declared that he would not yield till he was made to do so by the brute force of majorities;—­and there was another clause for the drafting of certain superfluous members from little boroughs, and bestowing them on populous towns at which they were much wanted, respecting which