He was one of those characters who above all things shrink
from isolation, and who imagine they are getting on if they
are keeping company with some who stick like themselves. He
was always an idolater of some great personage who was on the
shelf, and who he was convinced, because the great personage
assured him of it after dinner, would sooner or later turn out
the man. At present, Floatwell swore by Lord Dunderhead; and
the game of this little coterie, who dined together and
thought they were a party, was to be courteous to the
Convention.
After the endurance of an almost interminable lecture on the
currency from Mr KITE, who would pledge himself to the charter
if the charter would pledge itself to one-pound notes, the two
delegates had arrived in Piccadilly, and the next member upon
their list was Lord Valentine.
"It is two o'clock," said one of the delegates, "I think we
may venture;" so they knocked at the portal of the court yard,
and found they were awaited.
A private staircase led to the suite of rooms of Lord
Valentine, who lived in the family mansion. The delegates
were ushered through an ante-chamber into a saloon which
opened into a very fanciful conservatory, where amid tall
tropical plants played a fountain.
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