Cabinet ministers never
heard of them; and nobody out of their own offices ever consulted them.
But there are others, and Mr. Hittaway felt greatly conscious that he was
one of them, who move altogether in a different sphere. One minister of
State would ask another whether Hittaway had been consulted on this or on
that measure--so at least the Hittawayites were in the habit of reporting.
The names of Mr. and Mrs. Hittaway were constantly in the papers. They
were invited to evening gatherings at the houses of both the alternate
Prime Ministers. They were to be seen at fashionable gatherings up the
river. They attended concerts at Buckingham Palace. Once a year they gave
a dinner-party which was inserted in the "Morning Post." On such occasions
at least one Cabinet Minister always graced the board. In fact, Mr.
Hittaway, as Chairman of the Board of Civil Appeals, was somebody; and
Mrs. Hittaway, as his wife, and as sister to a peer, was somebody also.
The reader will remember that Mrs. Hittaway had been a Fawn before she
married.
There is this drawback upon the happy condition which Mr. Hittaway had
achieved, that it demands a certain expenditure.
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