'On the contrary,' said Uffington, 'you had better forget that I have ever spoken to you on the subject.' 'Parfaitement,' said the porter, whose knowledge of life was necessarily so large that he was never astonished at anything. That day, about two o'clock, as Uffington was lounging in the courtyard, Lord Forestfield appeared with a cigar in his mouth, for which he was seeking a light. He searched two of the china match-boxes standing on the round zinc tables outside the reading-room window without effect, for they were empty, and he was turning round to curse the waiter, when Uffington offered him a light from his cigar. Lord Forestfield took the light, and, after returning the cigar and touching his hat, was moving away, when Uffington said, 'I think I have the pleasure of speaking to Lord Forestfield? My name is Sir Nugent Uffington, and we have no doubt many common friends, among them Colonel Lydyeard, who happened to mention you were here.' Lord Forestfield bowed. 'Very happy to make your acquaintance, Sir Nugent Uffington, I am sure,' he said. 'Heard of you very often, though you were rather before my time, and have been living abroad a good deal since, haven't you? Excellent fellow, Toni Lydyeard--liked by every one who knows him. Are you staying here?' 'Yes,' answered Uffington; 'and, so far as I can see, for some little time.' 'I shall have the pleasure, then, of seeing you again, I hope. For the present _au revoir_.' And Lord Forestfield sauntered away into his brougham, which just then drove up to the door. He could not tell where he had seen Uffington, and yet he had some faint recollection of him. Not a pleasant recollection either, as it seemed to him, but one to which he could assign no particulars. He was very much pleased on the whole that he had been addressed, for such an experience was rare with him nowadays, and Uffington was a man who, although he had been for a long time away from England, and was looked upon as somewhat _rococo_ and bygone, was yet a member of some of the best clubs, and had been in his early days, so Lord Forestfield had heard, very highly thought of in society.