recklessly intimate with his wife's relations. It is true that he
still called himself a Tory, belonged to the club of which his father
had been one of the most honoured members, and in the days of the great
battle got his head broken in a row, on the right side; but,
nevertheless, it was felt by the good men, true and blue, of East
Barsetshire, that a constant sojourner at Courcy Castle could not be
regarded as a consistent Tory. When, however, his father died, that
broken head served him in good stead: his sufferings in the cause were
made the most of; these, in unison with his father's merits, turned the
scale, and it was accordingly decided, at a meeting held at the George
and Dragon, at Barchester, that Frank Gresham should fill his father's
shoes.

But Frank Gresham could not fill his father's shoes; they were too big
for him. He did become member for East Barsetshire, but he was such a
member--so lukewarm, so indifferent, so prone to associate with the
enemies of the good cause, so little willing to fight the good fight,
that he soon disgusted those who most dearly loved the memory of the
old squire.

De Courcy Castle in those days had great allurements for a young man,
and all those allurements were made the most of to win over young
Gresham. His wife, who was a year or two older than himself, was a
fashionable woman, with thorough Whig tastes and aspirations, such as
became the daughter of a great Whig earl; she cared for politics, or
thought that she cared for them, more than her husband did; for a month
or two previous to her engagement she had been attached to the Court,
and had been made to believe that much of the policy of England's
rulers depended on the political intrigues of England's women. She was
one who would fain be doing something if she only knew how, and the