Therewasagooddealsaidaboutitatthetime。Therewasarumour，——nodoubtafalserumour，——thattheCrowninsistedinthisinstanceondictatingachoicetotheDukeofOmnium。Butevenwereitso，theDukecouldnothavebeenverymuchaggrieved，asthechoicedictatedwassupposedtobethathimself。ThelateDukehadbeenaKnight，andwhenhehaddied，itwasthoughtthathissuccessorwouldsucceedtotheribbon。
ThenewDukehadbeenatthetimeintheCabinet，andhadremainedthere，buthadacceptedanofficeinferiorinranktothatwhichhehadformerlyfilled。Thewholehistoryofthesethingshasbeenwritten，andmaybereadbythecurious。TheDuchess，newlyaduchessthenandverykeeninreferencetoherhusband’srank，hadinstigatedhimtodemandtheribbonashisright。Thishehadnotonlydeclinedtodo，buthadgoneoutofthewaytosaythathethoughtitshouldbebestowedelsewhere。
Ithadbeenbestowedelsewhere，andtherehadbeenaverygeneralfeelingthathehadbeenpassedoverbecausehiseasytemperamentinsuchmattershadbeenseenandutilized。Now，whethertheCrowninterferedornot，——amatteronwhichnooneshortofawriterofnewspaperarticlesdarestomakesuggestiontilltimeshallhavemademellowthedoingsofsovereignsandtheirministers，——thesuggestionwasmade。TheDukeofStBungayventuredtosaytohisfriendthatnootherselectionwaspossible。
’RecommendherMajestytogiveittomyself？’saidthePrimeMinister。
’YouwillfindittobeherMajesty’swish。Ithasbeenverycommon。SirRobertWalpolehadit。’