COLONEL MORLEY.--"Yes. There was some fear of a disputed succession, but
Sir James made his claim very clear. Between you and me, the change has
been a serious affliction to the Viponts. The late lord was not wise,
but on state occasions he looked his part,--/tres grand seigneur/,--and
Carr managed the family influence with admirable tact. The present lord
has the habits of a yeoman; his wife shares his tastes. He has taken the
management not only of the property, but of its influence, out of Carr's
hands, and will make a sad mess of it, for he is an impracticable,
obsolete politician. He will never keep the family together, impossible,
a sad thing. I remember how our last muster, five years ago next
Christmas, struck terror into Lord's Cabinet; the mere report of it in
the newspapers set all people talking and thinking. The result was that,
two weeks after, proper overtures were made to Carr: he consented to
assist the ministers; and the country was saved! Now, thanks to this
stupid new earl, in eighteen months we have lost ground which it took at
least a century and a half to gain. Our votes are divided; our influence
frittered away; Montfort House is shut up; and Carr, grown quite thin,
says that in the coming 'CRISIS' a Cabinet will not only be formed, but
will also last--last time enough for irreparable mischief--without a
single Vipont in office."

Thus Colonel Morley continued in mournful strain, Darrell silent by his
side, till the Colonel reached his own door. There, while applying his
latch-key to the lock, Alban's mind returned from the perils that
threatened the House of Vipont and the Star of Brunswick to the petty
claims of private friendship. But even these last were now blended with
those grander interests, due care for which every true patriot of the
House of Vipont imbibed with his mother's milk.

"Your appearance in town, my dear Darrell, is most opportune. It will be