Sir Thomas sighed deeply, jingled the change in his pocket, and looked out of the window. Presently he began to whistle under his breath. Her ladyship folded and addressed a note with slow, mechanical precision. Turning to her husband, she said-- "You will have to be very industrious in order to get your speech off by heart in readiness for Tuesday's dinner." "I shall indeed--more's the pity! I never could get my lessons off by heart when I was a school-boy, and it is not likely that I can take kindly to the task at my time of life." "Now that your election is safe, there will be no necessity for you to speak, except on very rare occasions. There are too many empty-headed speakers, too many frothy orators, in Parliament already. All the more will your grand faculty of silence be invaluable to your country. We want men of profound thought, with the ability to express themselves in the fewest possible words. When once it is understood by the House that you are not a speaker, but a thinker, you cannot fail to be appreciated. Am I not right, Mr. Pomeroy?" "Undoubtedly you are right, madam. The House will soon learn to appraise Sir Thomas at his proper value." "You will be a man, dear, much sought for on committees. Your opinion will carry immense weight with it, because it will be so seldom expressed. There is a massive solidity of brain about you, such as few of your contemporaries can hope to rival." "That's all very well; but don't forget to let me have a supply of lozenges on Tuesday. If I haven't a lozenge in my mouth while I'm speaking, I shall be sure to break down." "The lozenges shall not be forgotten," said her ladyship. "I will make a note of it." "And I shall want a spare handkerchief in my pocket. Something to fumble with, you know. I can't bear to be empty-handed when I'm speaking. So awkward, you know." "Everything shall be attended to." Then, turning to Mr. Pomeroy, she added, "How delightful it is to note the little peculiarities of genius! Lozenges and a spare handkerchief for one; for another, an orange or a toothpick! When Sir Thomas's biography comes to be written, these little traits of character must not be forgotten." "They are very characteristic," said Jack, with the utmost seriousness. Gerald (or, as we had better perhaps call him during his sojourn at Stammars, Jack Pomeroy) could never feel quite sure whether Lady Dudgeon in her own mind really believed her husband to be possessed of those superior qualities the presence of which she was continually striving to impress as an undoubted fact on the minds of all around her, or whether it was merely an effort on her part to blind people to the deficiencies of her very commonplace idol.