Fielding opened his newspaper the next morning with unusual eagerness, and, turning to the Parliamentary reports, glanced down column after column in search of Drake's speech.

The absence of it threw him into some consternation.

He tossed the newspaper on to the breakfast-table and rose from his seat.

As he moved, however, he caught sight of Drake's name at the beginning of a leader, and he read the leader through.

It dealt with the accusation of the _Meteor_, and expressed considerable surprise that Drake had not seized the opportunity of denying it in the House of Commons.