“It shall be as you please,” said the old Lord, with a rather stiff courtesy.
“Thank you, my Lord; thank you. I assure you it is very rarely the sacrifice to duty costs me so keenly. Goodnight.”
CHAPTER XXXVII. “A MAN IN REQUEST”
The bountifully spread breakfast-table of the following morning was not destined to be graced by Mr. Dunn's presence. A clerk had arrived early in the morning with a mass of correspondence from Dublin, and a Government messenger, armed with an ominous-looking red box, came post-haste about an hour later, while a request for a cup of tea in his own room explained that Mr. Dunn was not to make his appearance in public.
“This savors of downright slavery,” said Lady Augusta, whose morning toilette was admirably devised.
“To me it savors of downright humbug,” said Lord Glengariff, pettishly. “No one shall tell me that a man has not time to eat his meals like a gentleman. A Secretary of State does n't give himself such airs. Why, I protest, here comes another courier! what can this fellow be?”
“A messenger from the Home Office has just arrived for Mr. Dunn,” said Miss Kellett, entering the room.
“Our little cottage is become like a house in Whitehall Gardens,” said Lord Glengariff, angrily. “I have no doubt we ought to feel excessively flattered by the notoriety the newspapers are certain to accord us.”
“Mr. Dunn is more to be pitied than any of us,” said Lady Augusta, compassionately.