"Was it indeed?"

"And he was an Irish peer till Lord Melbourne gave him an English
peerage."

"An Irish peer, was he?" Lizzie understood nothing of this, but presumed
that an Irish peer was a peer who had not sufficient money to live upon.
Lord Fawn, however, was endeavouring to describe his own history in as few
words as possible.

"He was then made Lord Fawn of Richmond, in the peerage of the United
Kingdom. Fawn Court, you know, belonged to my mother's father before my
mother's marriage. The property in Ireland is still mine, but there's no
place on it."

"Indeed!"

"There was a house, but my father allowed it to tumble down. It's in
Tipperary; not at all a desirable country to live in."

"Oh dear, no! Don't they murder the people?"

"It's about five thousand a year, and out of that my mother has half for
her life."

"What an excellent family arrangement," said Lizzie. There was so long a
pause made between each statement that she was forced to make some reply.

"You see, for a peer, the fortune is very small indeed."