"Look at them!" said Lady Parham, venomously, in the ear of one of her
intimates. "We shall have all this out in the House to-morrow. The
Opposition mean to play that man for all he's worth. Mr. Loraine,
too--with his puritanical ways! I know what he thinks of Cliffe. He
wouldn't
touch him in private. But in public--you'll see--he'll
swallow him whole--just to annoy Parham. There's your politician."
And stiff with the angry virtue of the "ins," denouncing the faction of
the "outs," Lady Parham passed on.
Elizabeth Tranmore meanwhile turned to look for Mary Lyster. She found
her close behind, engaged in a perfunctory conversation, which evidently
left her quite free to follow things more exciting. She, too, was
watching; and presently it seemed to Lady Tranmore that her eyes met
with those of Cliffe. Cliffe paused; abruptly lost the thread of his
conversation with Mr. Loraine, and began to make his way through the
crowded room. Lady Tranmore watched his progress with some attention. It
was the progress, clearly, of a man much in the eye and mouth of the
public. Whether the atmosphere surrounding him in these rooms was more
hostile or more favorable, Lady Tranmore could not be quite sure.
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