Lady John smiled. 'I remember.'
He turned his sanguine head with a quick look. 'Do I always talk about Stonor? Well, it's a habit people have got into.'
'I forget, do you know Mr. Stonor personally, or'—she smiled her good-humoured tolerant smile—'or are you just dazzled from afar?'
'Oh, I know him! The trouble is he doesn't know me. If he did he'd realize he can't be sure of winning his election without my valuable services.'
'Geoffrey Stonor's re-election is always a foregone conclusion.'
Farnborough banged his hand on the arm of the chair. 'That the great man shares that opinion is precisely his weak point'—then breaking into a pleasant smile as he made a clean breast of his hero-worship—'his only weak point!'
'Oh, you think,' inquired Lady John, lightly, 'just because the Liberals swept the country the last time, there's danger of their——'
'How can we be sure any Conservative seat is safe, after——' as Lady John smiled and turned to her papers again. 'Forgive me,' said the young man, with a tolerant air, 'I know you're not interested in politics qua politics. But this concerns Geoffrey Stonor.'
'And you count on my being interested in him like all the rest?'
He leaned forward. 'Lady John, I've heard the news.'