Finn.
CHAPTER L
What the Lords and Commons Said about the Murder
When the House met on that Thursday at four o'clock everybody was
talking about the murder, and certainly four-fifths of the members
had made up their minds that Phineas Finn was the murderer. To have
known a murdered man is something, but to have been intimate with
a murderer is certainly much more. There were many there who were
really sorry for poor Bonteen,--of whom without a doubt the end had
come in a very horrible manner; and there were more there who were
personally fond of Phineas Finn,--to whom the future of the young
member was very sad, and the fact that he should have become a
murderer very awful. But, nevertheless, the occasion was not without
its consolations. The business of the House is not always exciting,
or even interesting. On this afternoon there was not a member who
did not feel that something had occurred which added an interest to
Parliamentary life.
Very soon after prayers Mr. Gresham entered the House, and men who
had hitherto been behaving themselves after a most unparliamentary
fashion, standing about in knots, talking by no means in whispers,
moving in and out of the House rapidly, all crowded into their
places.
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