Had he set Lord Findon against him ?--ruined the chance of a purchaser for his picture and of a patron for the future?
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cuningham, neat, amiable, and self-possessed, sitting in a corner by Lady Findon, who smiled and chatted incessantly.

And it was clear to him that Welby was the spoilt child of the room.

Wherever he went men and women grouped themselves about him; there was a constant eagerness to capture him, an equal reluctance to let him go.
'Well, I'm as good as he--as either of them,' thought Fenwick fiercely, as he handled a Cosway.

'Only they can talk these people's lingo, and I can't.

I can paint as well as they any day--and I'll be bound, if they let me alone, I could talk as well.