Sir Somebody did not want
office, though he pretended to; and Lord Nobody did want
office, though he pretended he did not. One great man thought
the pear was not ripe; another that it was quite rotten; but
then the first was coming on the stage, and the other was
going off. In estimating the accuracy of a political opinion,
one should take into consideration the standing of the
opinionist.
At the right moment, and when she was sure she was not
overheard, Lady Firebrace played her trump card, the pack
having been previously cut by Mr Tadpole.
"And who do you think Sir Robert would send to Ireland?" and
she looked up in the face of the Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine.
"I suppose the person he sent before," said his grace.
Lady Firebrace shook her head.
"Lord Haddington will not go to Ireland again," replied her
ladyship, mysteriously; "mark me. And Lord De Grey does not
like to go; and if he did, there are objections. And the Duke
of Northumberland, he will not go. And who else is there? We
must have a nobleman of the highest rank for Ireland; one who
has not mixed himself up with Irish questions; who has always
been in old days for emancipation; a conservative, not an
orangeman.
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