It was
an interference with things which did not belong to him. And many
asserted that Mr. Gresham was much given to such interference. Lady
Cantrip, though her husband was Mr. Gresham's most intimate friend,
was altogether of this party, as was also the Duchess of St. Bungay,
who understood nothing at all about it, but who had once fancied
herself to be rudely treated by Mrs. Bonteen. The young Duchess was
a woman very strong in getting up a party; and the old Duchess, with
many other matrons of high rank, was made to believe that it was
incumbent on her to be a Phineas Finnite. One result of this was,
that though Phineas was excluded from the Liberal Government, all
Liberal drawing-rooms were open to him, and that he was a lion.
Additional zest was given to all this by the very indiscreet conduct
of Mr. Bonteen. He did accept the inferior office of President of
the Board of Trade, an office inferior at least to that for which
he had been designated, and agreed to fill it without a seat in the
Cabinet. But having done so he could not bring himself to bear his
disappointment quietly.
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