"Yes, you did; on the 31st. I keep the most accurate record of all such things, Mr. Finn. But let us hope that we may have better luck next year. In the meantime, we can only enjoy the good things that are going."
"Socially, or politically, Madame Goesler?"
"Oh, socially. How can I mean anything else when the Duke of Omnium is here? I feel so much taller at being in the same house with him. Do not you? But you are a spoilt child of fortune, and perhaps you have met him before."
"I think I once saw the back of a hat in the park, and somebody told me that the Duke's head was inside it."
"And you have never seen him but that once?"
"Never but that once,—till now."
"And do not you feel elated?"
"Of course I do. For what do you take me, Madame Goesler?"
"I do,—immensely. I believe him to be a fool, and I never heard of his doing a kind act to anybody in my life."
"Not when he gave the racehorse to Lady Glencora?"