“But your father was thinking of men of fortune.”
“Not at all;—of younger brothers,
and barristers, and of men who have their way to make,
as you have. Let me see,—can you dine
here on Wednesday? There will be no party, of
course, but papa will want to shake hands with you;
and you legislators of the Lower House are more easily
reached on Wednesdays than on any other day.”
“I shall be delighted,” said Phineas,
feeling, however, that he did not expect much sympathy
from Lord Brentford.
“Mr. Kennedy dines here;—you know
Mr. Kennedy, of Loughlinter; and we will ask your
friend Mr. Fitzgibbon. There will be nobody else.
As for catching Barrington Erle, that is out of the
question at such a time as this.”
“But going back to my being ruined—”
said Phineas, after a pause.
“Don’t think of anything so disagreeable.”
“You must not suppose that I am afraid of it.
I was going to say that there are worse things than
ruin,—or, at any rate, than the chance
of ruin. Supposing that I have to emigrate and
skin sheep, what does it matter? I myself, being
unencumbered, have myself as my own property to do
what I like with. With Nelson it was Westminster
Abbey or a peerage. With me it is parliamentary
success or sheep-skinning.”
“There shall be no sheep-skinning, Mr. Finn.
I will guarantee you.”
“Then I shall be safe.”
At that moment the door of the room was opened, and
a man entered with quick steps, came a few yards in,
and then retreated, slamming the door after him.
He was a man with thick short red hair, and an abundance
of very red beard. And his face was red,—and,
as it seemed to Phineas, his very eyes. There
was something in the countenance of the man which
struck him almost with dread,—something
approaching to ferocity.
There was a pause a moment after the door was closed,
and then Lady Laura spoke. “It was my brother
Chiltern. I do not think that you have ever met
him.”
Mr. and Mrs. Low
That terrible apparition of the red Lord Chiltern
had disturbed Phineas in the moment of his happiness
as he sat listening to the kind flatteries of Lady
Laura; and though Lord Chiltern had vanished as quickly
as he had appeared, there had come no return of his
joy. Lady Laura had said some word about her
brother, and Phineas had replied that he had never
chanced to see Lord Chiltern. Then there had
been an awkward silence, and almost immediately other
persons had come in. After greeting one or two
old acquaintances, among whom an elder sister of Laurence
Fitzgibbon was one, he took his leave and escaped
out into the square. “Miss Fitzgibbon is
going to dine with us on Wednesday,” said Lady
Laura. “She says she won’t answer
for her brother, but she will bring him if she can.”
“And you’re a member of Parliament now
too, they tell me,” said Miss Fitzgibbon, holding
up her hands. “I think everybody will be
in Parliament before long. I wish I knew some
man who wasn’t, that I might think of changing
my condition.”
