If he had a weak point in his character, it was a love of popularity,--not that vulgar mob-worship which some men court and seek after; no, it was the estimation of his own class and set he desired to obtain. He was proud of his social position, and nervously sensitive in whatever might prejudice or endanger it. His enemies--and Con was too able a man not to have made some--said that his low origin was the secret of his nature; that his ambiguous position in society demanded exertions uncalled for from others less equivocally circumstanced; and that Mr. Heffernan was, in secret, very far from esteeming the high and titled associates with whom his daily life brought him in contact. If this were the case, he was assuredly a consummate actor. No man ever went through a longer or more searching trial unscathed, nor could an expression be quoted, or an act mentioned, in which he derogated, even for a moment, from the habits of “his order.” “You never did the thing better in your life, my Lord,” said Con, as the door closed upon the last departing guest. “You hit off Jack Massy to perfection; and as for Watson, though he said nothing at the time, I 'll wager my roan cob against Deane Moore's hackney--long odds, I fancy--that you find him at the Treasury to-morrow morning, with a sly request for five minutes' private conversation.” “I'm of your mind, Heffernan. I saw that he took the bait,--indeed, to do the gentlemen justice, they are all open to conviction.” “You surely cannot blame them,” said Con, “if they take a more conciliating view of your Lordship's opinions when assisted by such claret as this: this is old '72, if I mistake not.” “They sold it to me as such; but I own to you I 'm the poorest connoisseur in the world as regards wine. Some one remarked this evening that the '95 was richer in bouquet.” “It was Edward Harvey, my Lord. I heard him; but that was the year he got his baronetcy, and he thinks the sun never shone so brightly before; his father was selling Balbriggan stockings when this grape was ripening, and now, the son has more than one foot on the steps of the peerage.” This was said with a short, quick glance beneath the eyelids, and evidently more as a feeler than with any strong conviction of its accuracy. “No Government can afford to neglect its supporters, and the acknowledgments must be proportioned to the sacrifices, as well as to the abilities of the individuals who second it.” “By Jove! if these gentlemen are in the market,” said Forester, who broke silence for the first time, “I don't wonder at their price being a high one; in consenting to the 'Union,' they are virtually voting their own annihilation.”