.

"We have so much to talk over--so many things to arrange--that I am
quite provoked at having thrown away a day; and you, too, are possibly
pressed for time?"

He nodded in assent.

"You can give me to-morrow, however?"

"I can give you to-night, my Lord, which will, perhaps, do as well."

"But to-morrow--"

"Oh, to-morrow, my Lord, I start with Baron Glumthal for Frankfort, to
meet the Elector of Darmstadt,--an appointment that cannot be broken."

"Politically most important, I have no doubt," said the Viscount, with
an undisguised sarcasm in the tone.

"No, my Lord, a mere financial affair," said Dunn, not heeding the
other's manner. "His Highness wants a loan, and we are willing to
accommodate him."

"I wish I could find you in the same liberal spirit. It is the very
thing I stand in need of Just now. In fact, Dunn, you must do it."

The half-coaxing accent of these last words was a strong contrast to the
sneer of a few seconds before, and Dunn smiled as he heard them.

"I fancy, my Lord, that if you are still of the same mind as before, you
will have little occasion to arrange for a loan in any quarter."

"Pooh! pooh! the scheme is absurd. It has not one, but fifty obstacles
against it. In the first place, you know nothing of this fellow, or
whether he can be treated with. As for myself, I do not believe one word
about his claim. Why, sir, there's not a titled house in England has not
at some period or other been assailed with this sort of menace. It
is the stalest piece of knavery going. If you were to poll the peers
to-morrow, you 'd not meet two out of ten have not been served with
notice of action, or ejectment on the title; in fact, sir, these suits
are a profession, and a very lucrative one, too."

Lord Lackington spoke warmly, and ere he had finished had lashed himself
up into a passion. Meanwhile Duun sat patiently, like one who awaited
the storm to pass by ere he advanced upon his road.

"I conclude, from your manner, that you do not agree with me?" said the
Viscount.

"Your Lordship opines truly. I take a very different view of this
transaction. I have had all the documents of Conway's claim before
me. Far more competent judges have seen and pronounced upon them. They
constitute a most formidable mass of evidence, and, save in a very few
and not very important details, present an unbroken chain of testimony."

"So, then, there is a battery preparing to open fire upon us?" said the
Vis