I take your confounded suggestions, because they happen to fit in;
but I'm actually getting the reputation of a light political
comedian, and it won't do."

Whereupon Paul, with his swift intuition, saw that in the case of a
proud, earnest gentleman like Colonel Winwood the tempting
emendations of typescript would not do. In what Miss Winwood called
his subtle Italian way, he induced his patron to discuss the
speeches before the process of composition. These discussions,
involving the swift rapier play of intelligences, Colonel Winwood
enjoyed. They stimulated him magically. He sat down and wrote his
speeches, delightfully unconscious of what in them was Paul and what
was himself; and when he delivered them he was proud of the
impression he had made upon the House.

And so, as the years passed, Paul gained influence not only in the
little circle of Drane's Court and Portland Place, but also in the
outer world. He was a young man of some note. His name appeared
occasionally in the newspapers, both in connection with the Winwood
charities and with the political machine of the Unionist party. He
was welcomed at London dinner tables and in country houses. He was a
young man who would go far. For the rest, he had learned to ride and
shoot, and not to make mistakes about the genealogical relationships
of important families. He had travelled about Europe, sometimes with
the Winwoods, sometimes by himself. He was a young man of
cultivation and accomplishment.

On this fifth anniversary he sat gazing unseeingly at the autumn
rack, the Princess's letter in his band, and letting his thoughts
wander down the years. He marvelled how valiantly the stars in their