" The duke spoken
of was the Duke of Omnium, and Phineas well remembered to have heard
some rumours about the Duke and Madame Max. It had been hinted to him
that the Duke wanted to marry the lady, but that rumour he had never
believed. The reader, if he has duly studied the history of the age,
will know that the Duke did make an offer to Madame Goesler, pressing
it with all his eloquence, but that Madame Goesler, on mature
consideration, thought it best to decline to become a duchess. Of all
this, however, the reader who understands Madame Goesler's character
will be quite sure that she did not say a word to Phineas Finn. Since
the business had been completed she had spoken of it to no one but to
Lady Glencora Palliser, who had forced herself into a knowledge of
all the circumstances while they were being acted.
"I met the Duke once at Matching," said Phineas.
"I remember it well. I was there, and first made the Duke's
acquaintance on that occasion. I don't know how it was that we became
intimate;--but we did, and then I formed a sort of friendship with
Lady Glencora; and somehow it has come about that we have been a
great deal together since.
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