 than when he raged and was precise.
    After his departure she talked of him with her father, to be charitably
satirical over him, it seemed.
    The critic in her ear had pounced on his repetition of certain words that
betrayed a dialectical stiffness and hinted a narrow vocabulary: his use of
emphasis, rather reminding her of his uncle Everard, was, in a young man, a
little distressing. »The apathy of the country, papa; the apathy of the rich; a
state of universal apathy. Will you inform me, papa, what the Tories are doing?
Do we really give our consciences to the keeping of the parsons once a week, and
let them dogmatize for us to save us from exertion? We must attach ourselves to
principles; nothing is permanent but principles. Poor Nevil! And still I am sure
you have, as I have, the feeling that one must respect him. I am quite convinced
that he supposes he is doing his best to serve his country by trying for
Parliament, fancying himself a Radical. I forgot to ask him whether he had
visited his great-aunt, Mrs. Beauchamp. They say the dear old lady has influence
with him.«
    »I don't think he 's been anywhere,« Colonel Halkett half laughed at the
quaint fellow. »I wish the other great-nephew of hers were in England, for us to
run him against Nevil Beauchamp. He 's touring the world. I 'm told he 's
orthodox, and a tough debater. We have to take what we can get.«
    »My best wishes for your success, and you and I will not talk of politics
any more, papa. I hope Nevil will come often, for his own good; he will meet his
own set of people here. And if he should dogmatize so much as to rouse our
apathy to denounce his principles, we will remember that we are British, and can
be sweet-blooded in opposition. Perhaps he may change, even tra le tre ore e le
quattro: electioneering should be a lesson. From my recollection of Blackburn
Tuckham, he was a boisterous boy.«
    »He writes uncommonly clever letters home to his aunt Beauchamp. She has
handed them to me to read,« said the colonel. »I do like to see tolerably solid
young fellows: they give one some hope of the stability of the country.«
    »They are not so interesting to study, and not half so amusing,« said
Cecilia.
    Colonel Halkett muttered his objections to the sort of amusement furnished
by
