In the meantime, after dinner, Tadpole and Taper, who were among the
guests of Mr. Ormsby, withdrew to a distant sofa, out of earshot, and
indulged in confidential talk.

'Such a strength in debate was never before found on a Treasury bench,'
said Mr. Tadpole; 'the other side will be dumbfounded.'

'And what do you put our numbers at now?' inquired Mr. Taper.

'Would you take fifty-five for our majority?' rejoined Mr. Tadpole.

'It is not so much the tail they have, as the excuse their junction will
be for the moderate, sensible men to come over,' said Taper. 'Our friend
Sir Everard for example, it would settle him.'

'He is a solemn impostor,' rejoined Mr. Tadpole; 'but he is a baronet and
a county member, and very much looked up to by the Wesleyans. The other
men, I know, have refused him a peerage.'

'And we might hold out judicious hopes,' said Taper.

'No one can do that better than you,' said Tadpole. 'I am apt to say too
much about those things.'

'I make it a rule never to open my mouth on such subjects,' said Taper. 'A
nod or a wink will speak volumes. An affectionate pressure of the hand
will sometimes do a great deal; and I have promised many a peerage without
committing myself, by an ingenious habit of deference which cannot be
mistaken by the future noble.'