CHAPTER XVIII.
Mr.Turnbull It was a Wednesday evening and there was no House;--and at seven o'clock Phineas was at Mr.Monk's hall door.

He was the first of the guests, and he found Mr.Monk alone in the dining-room.

"I am doing butler," said Mr.Monk, who had a brace of decanters in his hands, which he proceeded to put down in the neighbourhood of the fire.
"But I have finished, and now we will go up-stairs to receive the two great men properly." "I beg your pardon for coming too early," said Finn.
"Not a minute too early.

Seven is seven, and it is I who am too late.
But, Lord bless you, you don't think I'm ashamed of being found in the act of decanting my own wine! I remember Lord Palmerston saying before some committee about salaries, five or six years ago now, I daresay, that it wouldn't do for an English Minister to have his hall door opened by a maid-servant.

Now, I'm an English Minister, and I've got nobody but a maid-servant to open my hall door, and I'm obliged to look after my own wine.