"Oh, clever, yes; but I fear unstable, Mr. Benham."
"I suppose so. After all a man's private life is some guide, isn't it?"
"Some guide!" exclaimed Puttock. "Surely
you understate the case. If a man's private life is discreditable——"
"But would you go so far as that about the Premier?" inquired Benham, with a pained air.
"There's no smoke without fire, I'm afraid. It's a painful subject, and of course only a matter of rumour, but——"
"You see, I've been living in the country, and I'm not up in all that's said here."
"I wouldn't mention it to everybody, but to you I may venture. According to the report among those in a position to know, there was the gravest doubt as to the regularity of—his domestic relations."
"Dear, dear!"
"Nothing, as I say, is known or could, probably, be proved. It would damage him most seriously, of course, if that sort of thing were proved."