"This is a case in which I must keep up my dignity," she decided, as she took her place in the chair.
One man in the smoking-room appeared to be thoroughly weary of talking politics.

That man was the master of the house.
Randal noticed the worn, preoccupied look in his brother's face, and determined to break up the meeting.

The opportunity for which he was waiting occurred in another minute.

He was asked as a moderate politician to decide between two guests, both members of Parliament, who were fast drifting into mere contradiction of each other's second-hand opinions.

In plain terms, they stated the matter in dispute: "Which of our political parties deserves the confidence of the English people ?" In plain terms, on his sides Randal answered: "The party that lowers the taxes." Those words acted on the discussion like water on a fire.
As members of Parliament, the two contending politicians were naturally innocent of the slightest interest in the people or the taxes; they received the new idea submitted to them in helpless silence.