to Italy, to Venice, Florence, and on to
Rome; but such had not been their intention when they first started
on their journey. At that time Mr Grey believed that he would be
wanted again in England, down at Silverbridge in Barsetshire, very
shortly. But before he had married a week he learned that all that
was to be postponed. The cup of fruition had not yet reached Mr
Palliser's lips. "There will be no vacancy either in the county or in
the borough till Parliament meets." That had been the message sent
by Mr Palliser to Mr Grey. Lady Glencora's message to Alice had been
rather more full, having occupied three pages of note paper, the
last of which had been crossed, but I do not know that it was more
explicit. She had abused Lord Brock, had abused Mr Finespun, and had
abused all public things and institutions, because the arrangements
as now proposed would be very comfortable to Alice, but would not,
as she was pleased to think, be very comfortable to herself. "You
can go to Rome and see everything and enjoy yourself, which I was
not allowed to do; and all this noise and bother, and crowd of
electioneering, will take place down in Barsetshire just when I am in
the middle of all my trouble." There were many very long letters came
from Lady Glencora to Rome during the winter,--letters which Alice
enjoyed thoroughly, but which she could not but regard as being very
indiscreet. The Duke was at the Castle during the Christmas week, and
the descriptions of the Duke and of his solicitude as to his heir
were very comic. "He comes and bends over me on the sofa in the most
stupendous way, as though a woman to be the mother of his heir must
be a miracle in nature. He is quite awful when he says a word or two,
and more awful in his silence. The devil prompted me the other day,
and I said I hoped it would be a girl. There was a look came over his
face which nearly frightened me. If it should be, I believe he will
turn me out of the house; but how can I help it? I wish you were
going to have a baby at the same time. Then, if yours was a boy and
mine a girl, we'd make a change." This was very indiscreet. Lady
Glencora would write indiscreet letters like this, which Alice could
not show to her husband. It was a thousand pities.

But December and January wore themselves away, and the time came in
which the Greys were bound to return to England. The husband had
very fully discussed with his wife that matter of his parliamentary
ambitio