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 "But you must say something, Shelmerdine," thought the Front Bench, of which Two were present in addition to Mr. Everard Vandeleur. "It will create a most unhappy impression in the country."

"I can only attribute it to a mental aberration," said S. of P.

Mr. Everard Vandeleur shook his Jesuitical gray curls.

"Shelmerdine, my dear fellow," he said in tones vibrant with emotion, "I would rather have lost five seats in the country than this should have occurred."

"I had rather you had done so, Vandeleur, than that this should have taken place."

"Can you impose no check?" said Mr. Vandeleur. "Can you not refuse supply?"

"Unfortunately, no. The young scoundrel has a private income. But I hold his wife responsible for this."

"His wife?" said Mr. Vandeleur.

"The root of an evil," said the Husband of the Hostess, who, to be sure, was right at the other end of the mahogany.

"Your boy has married a wife, has he?" said Mr. Vandeleur, with the air of one who asks politely for information.

And who do you think, my lords and gentlemen, was seated opposite the Great Man? No less an individual