An expedition to Bushire was talked of,
and the Radical press was on the war-path. The cabinet minister said
little. A Lord Privy Seal, reverentially credited with advising royalty
in its private affairs, need have no views on the Persian Gulf. But Ashe
was appealed to and talked well. The minister at Teheran was an old
friend of his, and he described the personal attacks made on him for
political reasons by the Shah and his ministers with a humor which kept
the table entertained.
Suddenly Cliffe interposed. He had been listening with restlessness,
though Ashe, with pointed courtesy, had once or twice included him in
the conversation. And presently, at a somewhat dramatic moment, he met a
statement of Ashe's with a direct and violent contradiction. Ashe
flushed, and a duel began between the two men of which the company were
soon silent spectators. Ashe had the resources of official knowledge;
Cliffe had been recently on the spot, and pushed home the advantage of
the eye-witness with a covert insolence which Ashe bore with surprising
carelessness and good-temper. In the end Cliff e said some outrageous
things, at which Ashe laughed; and Lord Grosville abruptly dissolved the
party.
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