"Your honor'll not have heard the news ?" said he, a solemn gravity in face and tone.
"News ?" quoth Mr.Caryll sharply, intrigued by so much show of mystery.
"What news ?" "His lordship is very ill, sir.

He had a seizure this morning when they came for him." "A seizure ?" said Mr.Caryll.And then: "When they came for him ?" he echoed, struck by something odd in the man's utterance of those five words.

"When who came for him ?" "The messengers, sir," replied the butler dejectedly.

"Has your honor not heard ?" And seeing the blank look on Mr.Caryll's face, he proceeded without waiting for an answer: "His lordship was impeached yesterday by his Grace of Wharton on a matter concerning the South Sea Company, and Lord Carteret--the secretary of state, your honor--sent this morning to arrest him." "'Sdeath!" ejaculated Mr.Caryll in his surprise, a surprise that was tempered with some dismay.

"And he had a seizure, ye say ?" "An apoplexy, your honor.