The new situation was almost beatific.

The concluding touch, perhaps, was in Parkins' congratulatory whisper as he set a couple of decanters upon the table.
"I have found a bin of Cockburn's _fifty-one_, sir," he announced, including the lawyer in his confidential whisper.

"I thought you might like to try a couple of bottles, as Mr.Mangan seems rather a connoisseur, sir.

The corks appear to be in excellent condition." "After this," Mr.Mangan sighed, "it will be hard to get back to the austere life of a Pall Mall club!" Seaman, very early in the evening, pleaded an extraordinary sleepiness and retired, leaving his host and Mangan alone over the port.

Dominey, although an attentive host, seemed a little abstracted.