Then, indeed, he had, to his own intimate friends, made some remark in three words, not flattering to the discretion of the Prime Minister.

The Queen might be queen so long as he was Duke of Omnium.

Their revenues were about the same, with the exception, that the duke's were his own, and he could do what he liked with them.

This remembrance did not unfrequently present itself to the duke's mind.

In person, he was a plain, thin man, tall, but undistinguished in appearance, except that there was a gleam of pride in his eye which seemed every moment to be saying, "I am the Duke of Omnium." He was unmarried, and, if report said true, a great debauchee; but if so he had always kept his debaucheries decently away from the eyes of the world, and was not, therefore, open to that loud condemnation which should fall like a hailstorm round the ears of some more open sinners.
Why these two mighty nobles put their heads together in order that the tailor's son should represent Barchester in Parliament, I cannot explain.