CHAPTER XXXI.
THE DE GENNEVILLE PEERAGE The man in the corner rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and looked out upon the busy street below.
"I suppose," he said, "there is some truth in the saying that Providence watches over bankrupts, kittens, and lawyers." "I didn't know there was such a saying," replied Polly, with guarded dignity.
"Isn't there?
Perhaps I am misquoting; anyway, there should be.

Kittens, it seems, live and thrive through social and domestic upheavals which would annihilate a self-supporting tom-cat, and to-day I read in the morning papers the account of a noble lord's bankruptcy, and in the society ones that of his visit at the house of a Cabinet minister, where he is the most honoured guest.

As for lawyers, when Providence had exhausted all other means of securing their welfare, it brought forth the peerage cases." "I believe, as a matter of fact, that this special dispensation of Providence, as you call it, requires more technical knowledge than any other legal complication that comes before the law courts," she said.
"And also a great deal more money in the client's pocket than any other complication.

Now, take the Brockelsby peerage case.

Have you any idea how much money was spent over that soap bubble, which only burst after many hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds went in lawyers' and counsels' fees ?" "I suppose a great deal of money was spent on both sides," she replied, "until that sudden, awful issue--" "Which settled the dispute effectually," he interrupted with a dry chuckle.