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He could not go to Lady Baldock's on the night named, as it would be necessary that he should be in the House; nor did he much care to go there, as Violet Effingham was not in town. But he would call and explain, and endeavour to curry favour in that way. He at once wrote a note to Lord Chiltern, which he addressed to Portman Square. "As you are in town, can we not meet?
"As far as I have heard the circumstances, Lady Laura was quite right," said Phineas. "It may be so. Gentlemen will always take the lady's part, of course. But I should be very sorry to have a daughter separated from her husband, very sorry." Phineas, who had nothing now to gain from Lady Baldock's favour, left her abruptly, and went on again.
Lady Baldock's house in Berkeley Square was very stately, a large house with five front windows in a row, and a big door, and a huge square hall, and a fat porter in a round-topped chair; but it was dingy and dull, and could not have been painted for the last ten years, or furnished for the last twenty.
Of course it was desirable that Violet should marry an elder son, and a peer's heir. All that kind of thing, in Lady Baldock's eyes, was most desirable. But, nevertheless, anything was better than Lord Chiltern. If Violet would not take Mr.
But within ten minutes he had told her the whole tale about Lord Chiltern, and how he had seen Violet at Lady Baldock's, and how there might yet be hope for him. What would she advise him to do? "Go home, Mr. Finn," she said, "and write a sonnet to her eyebrow. See if that will have any effect." "Ah, well! It is natural that you should laugh at me; but somehow, I did not expect it from you."
"Then," said Violet, "if you won't go to Lady Baldock's or to the Zoo, we must confine ourselves to Laura's drawing-room; unless, indeed, you like to take me to the top of the Monument." "I'll take you to the top of the Monument with pleasure." "What do you say, Laura?" "I say that you are a foolish girl," said Lady Laura, "and that I will have nothing to do with such a scheme."
As regarded Violet, the injury arising from Lady Baldock's early migration was very great, for she was thus compelled to move from Grosvenor Place to Lady Baldock's house in Berkeley Square. "As you are so fond of being in London, Augusta and I have made up our minds to come up before Easter," Lady Baldock had written to her.
"I wanted no other help than this, that I might have had an opportunity of meeting Violet here, and of getting from her some answer." "Has the question then never been asked already?" said Lady Laura. To this Phineas made no immediate reply. There was no reason why he should show his whole hand to an adversary. "Why do you not go to Lady Baldock's house?" continued Lady Laura.
This was all very well as coming from Lord Chiltern; but there was no word about Violet, and Phineas did not know how to get a word from any one. Lady Laura could have told him everything, but he could not go to Lady Laura. He did go to Lady Baldock's house as often as he thought he could with propriety, and occasionally he saw Violet.
On two occasions the envoys sent to Avignon, to urge Baldock's claims on vacant sees, secured for themselves the mitre destined for the minister. In this way John Stratford became Bishop of Winchester and William Ayermine, Bishop of Norwich.
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