But he is mostly in London.

They have trains on purpose." "What a life for my son!" said the Earl.

"What a life! Of course no decent person will let him into his house." Lady Laura did not know what to say to this, for in truth Lord Chiltern was not fond of staying at the houses of persons whom the Earl would have called decent.
General Effingham, the father of Violet, and Lord Brentford had been the closest and dearest of friends.

They had been young men in the same regiment, and through life each had confided in the other.

When the General's only son, then a youth of seventeen, was killed in one of our grand New Zealand wars, the bereaved father and the Earl had been together for a month in their sorrow.