“Wouldn't you have a theatre?” asked Mrs. White.
“There might be, if the circumstances admitted. But with a billiard-room and a ball-room—”
“And a snug crib for smoking,” whispered one of the military.
“I don't see any better style of house,” said Linton, gravely, “than those great hotels one finds on the Rhine, and in Germany generally. They have ample accommodation, and are so divided that you can have your own suite of rooms to yourself.”
“Mathews used to keep house after that fashion,” said Lord Kilgoff, approaching the table. “Every one ordered his own dinner, and eat it either in his own apartment or in the dining-room. You were invited for four days, never more.”
“That was a great error; except in that particular, I should recommend the plan to Mr. Roland Cashel's consideration.”
“I never heard of it before,” said Cashel; “pray enlighten me on the subject.”
“A very respectable country gentleman, sir,” said Lord Kilgoff, “who had the whim to see his company without paying what he deemed the heaviest penalty,—the fatigue of playing host. He therefore invited his friends to come and do what they pleased,—eat, drink, drive, ride, play,—exactly as they fancied; only never to notice him otherwise than as one of the guests.”
“I like his notion prodigiously,” cried Cashel; “I should be delighted to imitate him.”
“Nothing easier, sir,” said my Lord, “with Mr. Linton for your prime minister; the administration is perfectly practicable.”