would be required, for what purpose both he and Mr. Donne were to be supposed to remain ignorant.  But it would be very awkward, so near to the time, if he were to be clearly convinced that bribery, however disguised by names and words, was in plain terms a sin.  And yet he knew Mr. Benson had once or twice convinced him against his will of certain things, which he had thenceforward found it impossible to do, without such great uneasiness of mind, that he had left off doing them, which was sadly against his interest.  And if Mr. Donne (whom he had intended to take with him to chapel, as fair Dissenting prey) should also become convinced, why, the Cranworths would win the day, and he should be the laughing-stock of Eccleston.  No! in this one case bribery must be allowed—­was allowable; but it was a great pity human nature was so corrupt, and if his member succeeded, he would double his subscription to the schools, in order that the next generation might be taught better.  There were various other reasons, which strengthened Mr. Bradshaw in the bright idea of going down to Abermouth for the Sunday; some connected with the out-of-door politics, and some with the domestic.  For instance, it had been the plan of the house to have a cold dinner on the Sunday—­Mr. Bradshaw had piqued himself on this strictness—­and yet he had an instinctive feeling that Mr. Donne was not quite the man to partake of cold meat for conscience sake with cheerful indifference to his fare.

Mr. Donne had, in fact, taken the Bradshaw household a little by surprise.  Before he came, Mr. Bradshaw had pleased himself with thinking that more unlikely things had happened than the espousal of his daughter with the member of a small borough.  But this pretty airy bubble burst as soon as he saw Mr. Donne; and its very existence was forgotten in less than half-an-hour, when he felt the quiet but incontestable difference of rank and standard that there was, in every respect, between his guest and his own family.  It was not through any circumstance so palpable, and possibly accidental, as the bringing down a servant, whom Mr. Donne seemed to consider as much a matter of course as a carpet-bag (though the smart gentleman’s arrival “fluttered the Volscians in Corioli” considerably more than his gentle-spoken master’s).  It was nothing like this; it was something indescribable—­a quiet being at ease, and expecting every one else to be so—­an attention to women, which was so habitual as to be unconsciously exercised to those subordinate persons in Mr. Bradshaw’s family—­a happy choice of simple and expressive words, some of which it must be confessed were slang, but fashionable slang, and that makes all the difference—­a measured, graceful way of utterance, with a style of pronunciation quite different to that of Eccleston.  All these put together make but a part of the indescribable whole which unconsciously affected Mr. Bradshaw, and established Mr. Donne in his estimation as a creature