To judge by Mr.Gladstone's quietness of entrance, nothing unusual had happened to him, and he himself had declined even to talk about the matter.

And yet there was a certain look as of reverie on his face--as though of a man who had looked into that dark and hideous abyss called Death.

He had not been looking very well for some days, and perhaps there was not--though imagination saw it--a deadlier pallor than usual on the face.

But it was only when he was sitting on the deserted bench beside Sir William Harcourt that one had an opportunity of detecting any difference between his usual appearance and his appearance at that particular moment.

The minute he had any part to take in the proceedings of the House, he was just as alert, cheerful, self-composed as ever.