Milverton. I assure you--

Ellesmere. Yes, you were tired, had a good dinner, read a speech
for or against the corn-laws, fell asleep of course, and had this
ingenious dream, which, to this day, you believe to have been a
reality. I understand it all.

Milverton. I wish I could have many more such dreams.



CHAPTER V.



Our last conversation broke off abruptly on the entrance of a
visitor: we forgot to name a time for our next meeting; and when I
came again, I found Milverton alone in his study. He was reading
Count Rumford's essays.

Dunsford. So you are reading Count Rumford. What is it that
interests you there?

Milverton. Everything he writes about. He is to me a delightful
writer. He throws so much life into all his writings. Whether they
are about making the most of food or fuel, or propounding the
benefits of bathing, or inveighing against smoke, it is that he went
and saw and did and experimented himself upon himself. His
proceedings at Munich to feed the poor are more interesting than
many a novel. It is surprising, too, how far he was before the