V.

"I will be a poor man among poor men," said John Storm to himself as he
drove to his vicar's house in Eaton Place, but he awoke next morning in a
bedroom that did not answer to his ideas of a life of poverty. A footman
came with hot water and tea, and also a message from the canon overnight
saying he would be pleased to see Mr. Storm in the study after breakfast.

The study was a sumptuous apartment immediately beneath, with soft
carpets on which his feet made no noise, and tiger-skins over the backs
of chairs. As he entered it a bright-faced man in middle life,
clean-shaven, wearing a gold-mounted _pince-nez_, and bubbling over with
politeness, stepped forward to receive him.

"Welcome to London, my dear Mr. Storm. When the letter came from the
Prime Minister I said to my daughter Felicity--you will see her
presently--I trust you will be good friends--I said, 'It is a privilege,
my child, to meet any wish of the dear Earl of Erin, and I am proud to be
in at the beginning of a career that is sure to be brilliant and
distinguished.'"

John Storm made some murmur of dissent.

"I trust you found your rooms to your taste, Mr. Storm?"

John Storm had found them more than he expected or desired.

"Ah, well, humble but comfortable, and in any case please regard them as
your own, to receive whom you please therein, and to dispense your own