untrue to him, and who kept his promise and sat there almost in solitude,—­he happened to be entering the House, as his late host was claiming from the doorkeeper the fruition of his privilege.  ’You had better let me accompany you,’ said the Conservative leader, with something of chivalry in his heart.  And so Mr Melmotte was introduced to the House by the head of his party!  When this was seen many men supposed that the rumours had been proved to be altogether false.  Was not this a guarantee sufficient to guarantee any man’s respectability?

Lord Nidderdale saw his father in the lobby of the House of Lords that afternoon and told him what had occurred.  The old man had been in a state of great doubt since the day of the dinner party.  He...