Her eyes wandered down
the table to Vennard, who had taken in an American duchess, and seemed
to be amused at her prattle. She looked with disfavour at Deloraine,
and turned to me as the lesser of two evils.

I was tactless enough to say that I thought there was a good deal in
Lord Mulross's view. "Oh, how can you?" she cried. "Is there a close
season for the wants of the people? It sounds to me perfectly horrible
the way you talk of government, as if it were a game for idle men of
the upper classes. I want professional politicians, men who give their
whole heart and soul to the service of the State. I know the kind of
member you and Lord Deloraine like--a rich young man who eats and
drinks too much, and thinks the real business of life is killing little
birds. He travels abroad and shoots some big game, and then comes home
and vapours about the Empire. He knows nothing about realities, and
will go down before the men who take the world seriously."

I am afraid I laughed, but Deloraine, who had been listening, was in no
mood to be amused.

"I don't think you are quite fair to us, Miss Claudia," he said slowly.
"We take things seriously enough, the things we know about. We can't
be expected to know about everything, and the misfortune is that the
things I care about don't interest you. But they are important enough
for all that."

"Hush," said the lady rudely. "I want to hear what Mr. Vennard is
saying."

Mr. Vennard was addressing the dinner-table as if it were a large
public meeting. It was a habit he had, for he had no mind to confine
the pearls of his wisdom to his immediate neighbours. His words were
directed to Caerlaverock at the far end.

"In my opinion this craze for the scientific stand-point is not merely
overdone--it is radically vicious. Human destinies cannot be treated
as if they were inert objects under the microscope. The cold-blooded
logical way of treating a problem is in almost every case the wrong
way. Heart and imagination to me are more vital than intellect. I
have the courage to be illogical, to defy facts for the sake of an
ideal, in the certainty that in time facts will fall into conformity.
My Creed may be put in the words of Newman's favourite quotation: Non
in dialectica complacuit Deo salvum facere populum suum--Not in cold
logic is it God's will that His people should find salvation."

"It is profoundly true," sighed Mr. Cargill, and Miss Claudia's beaming
eyes p