is first brought into contact with eager humanity, he developed
a faculty of public speaking which astonished his uncle as much
as it astonished anyone, though that astute nobleman concealed
his surprise. Meanwhile, Grey had got his commission. In those
days officers of the Guards lived in lodgings, so it was obvious
for Grey and Vaughan to live together; and every now and then Grey
would slip down to Bilton, and by making himself pleasant to the
shop-keepers, and talking appropriately to the farmers, would act
as his friend's most effective election-agent. The Dissolution
came in July, 1852, and Philip Vaughan was returned unopposed for
the Free and Independent Borough of Bilton.

Then followed a halcyon time. The two friends had long known that
they had only one heart between them; and now, living under the
same roof and going into the same society, they lived practically
one life. There was just enough separation to make reunion more
delightful--a dull debate at the House for Vaughan, or a dusty
field-day at Aldershot for Grey; but for both there was the early
gallop in Rotten Row, the breakfast which no third person ever
shared, the evening of social amusement, and the long, deep, intimate
talk over the last cigar, when the doings of the day were reviewed
and the programme for to-morrow was sketched.

Grey had always been popular and always lighthearted. Vaughan, as
a schoolboy and an undergraduate, had been unpopular and grave.
But now people who knew them both observed that, at any rate as far
as outward characteristics showed, the two natures were becoming
harmonized. Vaughan was a visibly lighter, brighter, and more
companionable fellow; and Grey began to manifest something of that
manly seriousness which was wanted to complete his character. It