Page:The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore.pdf/173

 "Really," said Mrs. Dumaresq with lofty sweetness, "I have no opinion on the subject. I know absolutely nothing of politics."

"Oh! Then you are a Conservative," said the new boarder's wife abruptly. "I have always noticed that when a woman begins by telling me she knows nothing of politics, it means that she is a Tory."

Mrs. Dumaresq looked offended. "Well," she said, after a brief pause, "my sympathies are naturally with the aristocracy, amongst whom my life has been passed. In military and diplomatic circles everyone is Conservative, so if I have any bias, it is in favour of my friends."

The wife of the new boarder happened, unfortunately, to be an earnest woman, so she did not let the matter drop.

"But why," she pursued, "should you, a member of the great English middle-class, set yourself to uphold a system inimical to the interests not only of the poor but of your equals."

The listeners felt the position to be strained. No one had ever pressed a point on Mrs. Dumaresq before, and all the ladies thought the new boarder's wife was audacious