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CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | ||
| I | A GREAT PROCONSUL; AND OTHER PHENOMENA | [1] | |
| II | TOUCHES UPON A MATTER OF GRAVE PUBLIC IMPORTANCE | [7] | |
| III | IS DOMESTIC IN THE MAIN, BUT WE HOPE NOT UNWORTHY OF A GREAT CONSTITUTIONAL STATESMAN | [12] | |
| IV | IN WHICH THE GENTLE READER HAS THE HONOR OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SEVENTH UNMARRIED DAUGHTER OF NOT QUITE A HUNDRED EARLS | [18] | |
| V | IN WHICH THE GENTLE READER IS TAKEN TO THE PANTOMIME IN THE COMPANY OF MARGE AND TIMOTHY AND ALICE CLARA AND DICK AND THE BABE AND HELEN AND LUCY NANNA, AND WE HOPE YOU’LL ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS THEY DID | [27] | |
| VI | IN WHICH WE DINE OUT IN GROSVENOR SQUARE | [47] | |
| VII | IN WHICH WE DRINK TEA AGAIN AT THE CARLTON | [62] | |
| VIII | IN WHICH WE MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE GODDAUGHTER OF EDWARD BEAN | [77] | |
| IX | A LITTLE LUNCH AT DIEUDONNÉ’S | [83] | |
| X | AFFAIRS OF STATE | [100] | |
| XI | LICENTIOUS BEHAVIOR OF THE GREEN CHARTREUSE | [108] | |
| XII | THE PROCONSULAR TOUCH | [115] | |
| XIII | JANE’S AFTERNOON OUT | [121] | |
| XIV | IN WHICH MARY QUALIFIES FOR THE RÔLE OF THE BAD GIRL OF THE FAMILY | [132] | |
| XV | IN WHICH WE SIT AT THE FEET OF GAMALIEL | [152] | |
| XVI | IN WHICH THE MOUNTAIN COMES TO MAHOMET | [157] | |
| XVII | IN WHICH WE ARE TAKEN TO VIEW A LITTLE FLAT IN KNIGHTSBRIDGE | [166] | |
| XVIII | IN WHICH THE CONSEQUENCES ARE DAMNED WITH NO UNCERTAINTY | [174] | |
| XIX | A GREAT OCCASION | [184] | |
| XX | LOVE’S YOUNG DREAM | [191] | |
| XXI | ADVENTURES RARE AND STRANGE | [199] | |
| XXII | IN WHICH PHILIP RENEWS HIS YOUTH | [210] | |
| XXIII | IN WHICH GRANDMAMMA RENEWS HERS | [226] | |
| XXIV | IS OF A POLITICAL NATURE | [239] | |
| XXV | IS VICTORIAN IN THE BEST SENSE | [259] | |
| XXVI | A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS | [268] | |
| XXVII | ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR FREE TRADE | [290] | |
| XXVIII | THE END OF THE TALE | [300] |
THE PRINCIPAL GIRL
CHAPTER I
A GREAT PROCONSUL; AND OTHER PHENOMENA
The great Proconsul stood on one of Messrs. Maple’s best hearthrugs in Grosvenor Square. A typical payer of the super-tax, a pink and prosperous gentleman in a morning coat and striped trousers, his appearance had long commanded the admiration of his country.
He had not ruled the teeming millions of the Ganges, although the strength of his digestion and his absence of imagination would at any time have enabled him to do so. But for a period of nine weeks he had been the Resident of Barataria North-West; and partly for that reason and partly for a reason even more cogent, he had the distinction of being the last peer created by Mr. Vandeleur’s last government.
The world is familiar with Sir William Richmond’s fine portrait of Walter Augustus, first Baron Shelmerdine of Potterhanworth now, on loan at the National Portrait Gallery. In this the national asset appears as he encountered his Sovereign in knee breeches, silk stockings, shoe buckles and other regalia.
Competent judges consider it an excellent likeness, and of course quite unexceptionable as a work of art. It is the portrait of a happily endowed Englishman in his manly prime, to which the nation at large is able to refer between the hours of ten and four, Fridays excepted.