But these things were matters of course to a Duke of Omnium, He was born to be a lord lieutenant and a Knight of the Garter.

But not the less on account of his apathy, or rather quiescence, was it thought that Gatherum Castle was a fitting place in which politicians might express to each other their present hopes and future aims, and concoct together little plots in a half-serious and half-mocking way.

Indeed it was hinted that Mr.Supplehouse and Harold Smith, with one or two others, were at Gatherum for this express purpose.

Mr.Fothergill, too, was a noted politician, and was supposed to know the duke's mind well; and Mr.Green Walker, the nephew of the marchioness, was a young man whom the duke desired to have brought forward.

Mr.Sowerby also was the duke's own member, and so the occasion suited well for the interchange of a few ideas.
The then prime minister, angry as many men were with him, had not been altogether unsuccessful.