At the moment when the
coalition was broken up he had been very bitter in spirit,
apparently almost arrogant, holding himself aloof from his late
colleagues,--and since that, troubles had come to him, which had
aggravated the soreness of his heart. His wife had died, and he
had suffered much through his children. What Lord Silverbridge had
done at Oxford was a matter of general conversation, and also what
he had not done.
That the heir of the family should have become a renegade in
politics was supposed to have greatly affected the father. Now
Lord Gerald had been expelled from Cambridge, and Silverbridge was
on the turf in conjunction with Major Tifto! Something, too, had
oozed out into general ears about Lady Mary,--something which
should have been kept secret as the grave. It had therefore come
to pass that it was difficult even to address the Duke.
There was but one man, and but one, who could do this with ease to
himself;--and that man was at last put into motion at the instance
of the leaders of the party. The old Duke of St Bungay wrote the
following letter to the Duke of Omnium.
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