CHAPTER V.
Mr.and Mrs.Low That terrible apparition of the red Lord Chiltern had disturbed Phineas in the moment of his happiness as he sat listening to the kind flatteries of Lady Laura; and though Lord Chiltern had vanished as quickly as he had appeared, there had come no return of his joy.
Lady Laura had said some word about her brother, and Phineas had replied that he had never chanced to see Lord Chiltern.

Then there had been an awkward silence, and almost immediately other persons had come in.

After greeting one or two old acquaintances, among whom an elder sister of Laurence Fitzgibbon was one, he took his leave and escaped out into the square.

"Miss Fitzgibbon is going to dine with us on Wednesday," said Lady Laura.

"She says she won't answer for her brother, but she will bring him if she can." "And you're a member of Parliament now too, they tell me," said Miss Fitzgibbon, holding up her hands.