_Sir Rup._ (_uneasily_). A poet! What on earth possessed you to ask a literary fellow down _here_? Poetry isn't much in our way; and a poet _will_ be, confoundedly! [Illustration: "What on earth possessed you to ask a literary fellow down _here_?"] _Lady Culv._ I really couldn't help it, RUPERT. ROHESIA insisted on my having him to meet her. She likes meeting clever and interesting people. And this Mr. BLAIR, it seems, has just written a volume of verses which are finer than anything that's been done since--well, for _ages_! _Sir Rup._ What sort of verses? _Lady Culv._ Well, they're charmingly bound. I've got the book in the house, somewhere. ROHESIA told me to send for it; but I haven't had time to read it yet. _Sir Rup._ Shouldn't be surprised if ROHESIA hadn't, either. _Lady Culv._ At all events, she's heard it talked about. The young man's verses have made quite a sensation; they're so dreadfully clever, and revolutionary, and morbid and pessimistic, and all that, so she made me promise to ask him down here to meet her! _Sir Rup._ Devilish thoughtful of her. _Lady Culv._ Wasn't it? She thought it might be a valuable experience for him; he's sprung, I believe, from _quite_ the middle class. _Sir Rup._ Don't see myself why should he be sprung on _us_. Why can't ROHESIA ask him to her own place? _Lady Culv._ I daresay she will, if he turns out to be quite presentable. And, of course, he _may_, RUPERT, for anything we can tell. _Sir Rup._ Then you've never seen him yourself! How did you manage to ask him here, then? _Lady Culv._ Oh, I wrote to him through his publishers. ROHESIA says that's the usual way with literary persons one doesn't happen to have met. And he wrote to say he would come. _Sir Rup._ So we're to have a morbid revolutionary poet staying in the house, are we? He'll come down to dinner in a flannel shirt and no tie--or else a _red_ one--if he don't bring down a beastly bomb and try to blow us all up! You'll find you've made a mistake, ALBINIA, depend upon it. _Lady Culv._ Dear RUPERT, aren't you just a little bit _narrow_? You forget that nowadays the very best houses are proud to entertain Genius--no matter _what_ their opinions and appearance may be. And besides, we don't know what changes may be coming. Surely it is wise and prudent to conciliate the clever young men who might inflame the masses against us. ROHESIA thinks so; she says it may be our only chance of stemming the rising tide of Revolution, RUPERT! _Sir Rup._ Oh, if ROHESIA thinks a revolution can be stemmed by asking a few poets down from Saturday to Monday, she might do _her_ share of the stemming at all events. _Lady Culv._ But you will be _nice_ to him, RUPERT, won't you?