Secretary, arm-in-arm with two eloquent and leading members of the Government--all of them evidently in high spirits, on their way down to the House. "Ah!--Aubrey!--In town?--An age since we met!"--exclaimed they, in a breath, shaking him cordially by the hand.--"You know, of course, that the budget comes on to-night--eh?"---- "I was not aware of it,"--said Mr. Aubrey. "I assure you," interrupted Lord C----, "our friends will do us great service--very essential service, by being early in their attendance!--You know that Mr. Quicksilver intends to come out against us to-night in great force?--My dear Aubrey, you are going the wrong way!" "I am not going down to the House to-night!" "Not going down?--Eh?--My dear Aubrey, you astonish me!--Have you paired off? You can't think how I lament your absence!" "I am returning to Yorkshire almost immediately." "But surely you can come for an hour, or so, to-night--eh? Come! The division won't come on till late. Don't let a trifle stand in the way!" "I would _not_ let a trifle stand in the way," replied Mr. Aubrey, in a tone and manner which at once arrested the attention of those whom he was addressing, and suddenly reminded them of what, in their political eagerness, they had for a moment lost sight of--namely, the perilous position of his private affairs. "My dear Aubrey, I beg a thousand pardons for intruding such matters upon you," said Lord C----, with sudden earnestness; "but shall we have an opportunity of meeting before you leave town?" "I fear--_not_;--I set off by the mail to-morrow evening--and have in the mean time much to attend to," said Mr. Aubrey, unable to repress a sigh--and they parted. But for a determination not to yield to a morbid sensibility, he would have got into a hackney-coach, and so have avoided the "troops of friends," the hosts of "old familiar faces," all wending down to the scene in which he had begun so eminently to distinguish himself--but from which he seemed now to be forever excluded. He, therefore, pursued his way on foot. One of those on whom his troubled eye lit, was a well-known figure on horseback--the great Duke of ----, on his way down to the House of Lords, going very slowly, his head inclined on one side, his iron-cast features overspread with an expression of stern thoughtfulness. He did not observe Mr. Aubrey--in fact, he seemed too much absorbed with his own thoughts to observe or recognize anybody; yet he now and then mechanically raised his finger to his hat, in acknowledgment of the obeisances of those who saluted him as he passed. Poor Aubrey sighed; and felt as if circumstances had placed him at an immeasurable distance from the man whom, so lately, he had entertained familiarly at dinner; that there seemed suddenly to exist, as it were, a great and impassable gulf between them.