They greeted each other coolly, while Cliffe, not seeing his hostess,
looked round him with annoyance.
"Well, we shall probably entertain each other," said Darrell, as they
sat down. "Lady Kitty often forgets her engagements."
"Does she?" said Cliffe, coldly, pretending to glance through a book
beside him. It touched his vanity that his hostess was not present, and
still more that Darrell should suppose him a person to be forgotten.
Darrell, however, who had no mind for any discomfort that might be
avoided, made a few dexterous advances, Cliffe's brow relaxed, and they
were soon in conversation.
The position of the ministry naturally presented itself as a topic. Two
or three retirements were impending, the whole position was precarious.
Would the cabinet be reconstructed without a dissolution, or must there
be an appeal to the country?
Cliffe was passionately in favor of the latter course. The party
fortunes could not possibly be retrieved without a general shuffling of
the cards, and an opportunity for some wholly fresh combination
involving new blood.
"In any case," said Cliffe, "I suppose our friend here is sure of one or
other of the big posts?"
"William Ashe? Oh, I suppose so, unless some intrigue gets in the way.
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