ll
the world over. Sometimes I wish there were no such things as looks.
I don't mean anything improper, you know; only one does get so
hampered, right and left, for fear of Mrs Grundy. I endeavour to go
straight, and get along pretty well on the whole, I suppose. Baker,
you must put Dandy in the bar; he pulls so, going home, that I can't
hold him in the check." She stopped the horses, and Baker, a very
completely-got-up groom of some forty years of age, who sat behind,
got down and put the impetuous Dandy "in the bar," thereby changing
the rein, so that the curb was brought to bear on him. "They're
called Dandy and Flirt," continued Lady Glencora, speaking to Alice.
"Ain't they a beautiful match? The Duke gave them to me and named
them himself. Did you ever see the Duke?"

"Never," said Alice.

"He won't be here before Christmas, but you shall be introduced some
day in London. He's an excellent creature and I'm a great pet of his;
though, after all, I never speak half a dozen words to him when I see
him. He's one of those people who never talk. I'm one of those who
like talking, as you'll find out. I think it runs in families; and
the Pallisers are non-talkers. That doesn't mean that they are not
speakers, for Mr Palliser has plenty to say in the House, and they
declare that he's one of the few public men who've got lungs enough
to make a financial statement without breaking down."

Alice was aware that she had as yet hardly spoken herself, and
began to bethink herself that she didn't know what to say. Had Lady
Glencora paused on the subject of Dandy and Flirt, she might have
managed to be enthusiastic about the horses, but she could not
discuss freely the general silence of the Palliser family, nor the
excellent lungs, as regarded public purposes, of the one who was
the husband of her present friend. So she asked how far it was to
Matching Priory.

"You're not tired of me already, I hope," said Lady Glencora.

"I didn't mean that," said Alice. "I delight in the drive. But
somehow one expects Matching Station to be near Matching."

"Ah, yes; that's a great cheat. It's not Matching Station at all but
Matching Road Station, and it's eight miles. It is a great bore,
for though the omnibus brings our parcels, we have to be constantly
sending over, and it's very expensive, I can assure you. I want Mr
Palliser to have a branch, but he says he would have to take all the
shares himself, and that would cost more, I suppo