XV
MR. PYBUS'S OFFER
"A note for you, sir." Vaughan turned moodily to take it. It was themorning after the Vermuyden dinner, and he had slept ill, he had risenlate, he was still sitting before his breakfast, toying with it ratherthan eating it. His first feeling on leaving the dining-room had beenbitter chagrin at the ease with which Sir Robert had dealt with him.This had given place a little later to amusement; for he had a senseof humour. And he had laughed, though sorely, at the figure he had cutas he beat his retreat. Still later, as he lay, excited and wakeful,he had fallen a prey to doubt; that horrible three o'clock in themorning doubt, which defies reason, which sees all the _cons_ in thestrongest light and reduces the _pros_ to shadows. However, one thingwas certain. He had crossed the Rubicon. He had divorced himself bypublic act from the party to which his forbears--for the Vaughans aswell as the Vermuydens had been Tories--had belonged. He had joinedthe Whigs; nay, he had joined the Reformers. But though he had donethis deliberately and from conviction, though his reason approved thestep, and his brain teemed with arguments in its favour, the chancethat he might be wrong haunted him.
That governing class from which he was separating himself, from whichhis policy would snatch power, which in future would dub him traitor,what had it not done for England? With how firm a hand had it notguided the country through storm and stress, with what successshielded it not from foreign foes only, but from disruption andrevolution? He scanned the last hundred and fifty years and saw thecountry, always under the steady rule of that class which had thegreatest stake in its prosperity, advancing in strength and riches andcomfort, ay, and, though slowly in these, in knowledge also and thehumanities and decencies. And the question forced itself upon him,would that great middle class into whose hands the sway now fell, useit better? Would they produce statesmen more able than Walpole orChatham, generals braver than Wolfe or Moore, a higher heart thanNelson's? Nay, would the matter end there? Would not power slip intothe hands of a wider and yet a wider circle? Would Orator Hunt's dreamof Manhood Suffrage, Annual Parliaments and the Ballot become areality? Would government by the majority, government by tale ofheads, as if three chawbacons must perforce be wiser than one squire,government by the ill-taught, untrained mass, with the least to loseand the most to gain--would that in the long run plunge the country infatal misfortunes?
It was just possible that those who deemed the balance of power,established in 1688, the one perfect mean between despotism andanarchy--it was just possible that they were right. And that he was afool.
Then to divert his mind he had allowed himself to think of Mary Smith.And he had tossed and tumbled, ill-satisfied with himself. He wasbrave, he told himself, in the wrong place. He had the courage tobreak with old associations, to defy opinion, to disregard SirRobert--where no more than a point of pride was concerned; for it wasabsurd to fancy that the fate of England hung on his voice. But in amatter which went to the root of his happiness--for he was sure thathe loved Mary Smith and would love no other--he had not the spirit todefy a little gossip, a few smiles, the contempt of the worldly. Heflushed from head to foot at the thought of a life which, howevermodest--and modesty was not incompatible with ambition--was shared byher, and would be pervaded by her. And yet he dared not purchase thatlife at so trifling a cost! No, he was weak where he should be strong,and strong where he should be weak. And so he had tossed and turned,and now after two or three hours of feverish sleep, he sat gloomingover his tea cup.
Presently he broke open the note which the waiter had handed to him.He read it, and "Who brought this?" he asked, with a perplexed face.
"Don't know, sir," Sam replied glibly, beginning to collect thebreakfast dishes.
"Will you enquire?"
"Found it on the hall table, sir," the man answered, in the same tone."Fancy," with a grin, "it's a runaway knock, sir. Known a man find acabbage at the door and a whole year's wages under it--at electiontime, sir! Yes, sir. Find funny things in funny places--election time,sir."
Vaughan made no reply, but a few minutes later he took his hat anddescending the stairs, strolled with an easy air into the street. Hepaused as if to contemplate the Abbey Church, beautiful even in itsdisfigurement. Then, but as if he were careless which way he went, heturned to the right.
The main street, with its whitened doorsteps and gleaming knockers,lay languid in the sunshine; perhaps, enervated by the dissipation ofthe previous evening. The candidates who would presently pay formalvisits to the voters were not yet afoot: and though taverns where thetap was running already gave forth maudlin laughter, no other sign ofthe coming event declared itself. A few tradesmen stood at theirdoors, a few dogs lay stretched in the sun; and only Vaughan's commonsense told him that he was watched.
From the High Street he presently turned into a narrow alley on theright which descended between garden walls to the lower level of thetown. A man who was lounging in the mouth of the alley muttered"second door on the left," as Vaughan passed, and the latter moved oncounting the doors. At the one indicated he paused, and, after makingcertain that he was not observed, he knocked. The door opened a littleway.
"For whom are you?" asked someone who kept himself out of sight.
"Buff and Blue," Vaughan answered.
"Right; sir," the voice rejoined briskly. The door opened wide andVaughan passed in. He found himself in a small walled garden smotheredin lilac and laburnum, and shaded by two great chestnut trees alreadyso fully in leaf as to hide the house to which the garden belonged.
The person who had admitted him, a very small, very neat gentleman ina high-collared blue coat and nankeen trousers, with a redundant softcravat wound about his thin neck, bowed low. "Happy to see you, Mr.Vaughan," he chirped. "I am Mr. Pybus, his lordship's man of business.Happy to be the intermediary in so pleasant a matter."
"I hope it may turn out so," Vaughan replied drily. "You wrote me avery mysterious note."
"Can't be too careful, sir," the little man, who was said to modelhimself upon Lord John Russell, answered with an important frown."Can't be too careful in these matters. You're watched and I amwatched, sir."
"I dare say," Vaughan replied.
"And the responsibility is great, very great. May I----" he continued,pulling out his box, "but I dare say you don't take snuff?"
"No."
"No? The younger generation! Just so! Many of the young gentry smoke,I am told. Other days, other manners! Well--we know of course whathappened last night. And I'm bound to say, I honour you, Mr. Vaughan!I honour you, sir."
"You can let that pass," Vaughan replied coldly.
"Very good! Very good! Of course," he continued with importance, "thenews was brought to me at once, and his lordship knew it before heslept."
"Oh!"
"Yes, indeed. Yes. And he wrote to me this morning--in his dressinggown, I don't doubt. He commanded me to tell you----"
But here Vaughan stopped him--somewhat rudely. "One minute, Mr.Pybus," he said, "I don't wish to know what Lord Lansdowne said ordid--because it will not affect my conduct. I am here because yourequested me to grant you an interview. But if your purpose be merelyto convey to me Lord Lansdowne's approval--or disapproval," in a tonea little more contemptuous than was necessary, "be good enough tounderstand that they are equally indifferent to me. I have done what Ihave done without regard to my cousin's--to Sir Robert Vermuyden'sfeelings. You may take it for certain," he added loftily, "that Ishall not be led beyond my own judgment by any regard for hislordship's."
"But hear me out!" the little man cried, dancing to and fro in hiseagerness; so that, in the shifting lights under the great chestnuttree, he looked like a pert, bright-coloured bird. "Hear me out, andyou'll not say that!"
"I shall say, Mr. Pybus----"
"I beg you to hear me out!"
Vaughan shrugged his shoulders.
"Go on!" he said. "I have said my say, and I suppose you understandme."
&nb
sp; "I shall hold it unsaid," Mr. Pybus rejoined warmly, "until I havespoken!" And he waved an agitated finger in the air. "Observe, Mr.Vaughan--his lordship bade me take you entirely into confidence, and Ido so. We've only one candidate--Mr. Wrench. Colonel Petty is sure ofhis election in Ireland and we've no mind to stand a second contest tofill his seat: in fact we are not going to nominate him. Lord Kerry,my lord's eldest son thought of it, but it is not a certainty, and mylord wishes him to wait a year or two and sit for Calne. I say it'snot a certainty. But it's next door to a certainty since you havedeclared yourself. And my lord's view, Mr. Vaughan, is that he whohits the buck should have the haunch. You take me?"
"Indeed, I don't."
"Then I'll be downright, sir. To the point, sir. Will you be ourcandidate?"
"What?" Vaughan cried. He turned very red. "What do you mean?"
"What I said, sir. Will you be our candidate? For the Bill, the wholeBill, and nothing but the Bill? If so, we shall not say a word untilto-morrow and then we shall nominate you with Mr. Wrench, and take 'emby surprise. Eh? Do you see? They've got their speeches ready full ofmy lord's interference and my lord's dictation, and they will point toColonel Petty, my lord's cousin, for proof! And then," Mr. Pybuswinked, much after the fashion of a mischievous paroquet, "we'll knockthe stool from under 'em by nominating you! And, mind you, Mr.Vaughan, we are going to win. We were hopeful before, for we've one oftheir men in gaol, and another, Pillinger of the Blue Duck, is tied bythe leg. His wife owes a bit of money and thinks more of fifty guineasin her own pocket than of thirty pounds a year in her husband's. Andshe and the doctor have got him in bed and will see that he's not wellenough to vote! Ha! Ha! So there it is, Mr. Vaughan! There it is! Mylord's offer, not mine. I believe he'd word from London what you'd belikely to do. Only he felt a delicacy about moving--until you declaredyourself."
"I see," Vaughan replied. And indeed he did see more than he liked.
"Just so, sir. My lord's a gentleman if ever there was one!" And Mr.Pybus, pulling down his waistcoat, looked as if he suspected that hehad imbibed much of his lordship's gentility.
Vaughan stood, thinking; his eyes gazing into the shimmering depths ofgreen where the branches of the chestnut tree under which he stoodswept the sun-kissed turf. And as he thought he tried to still theturmoil in his brain. Here within reach of his hand, to take or leave,was that which had been his ambition for years! No longer to play atthe game, no longer to make believe while he addressed the Forum orthe Academic that he was addressing the Commons of England; but verilyand really to be one of that august body, and to have all withinreach. Had not the offer of cabinet honours fallen to Lord Palmerstonat twenty-five? And what Lord Palmerston had done at twenty-five, hemight do at thirty-five! And more easily, if he gained a footingbefore the crowd of new members whom the Bill would bring in, took thefloor. The thought set his pulse a-gallop. His chance! His chance atlast! But if he let it slip now, it might not be his for long years.It is poor work waiting for dead men's shoes.
And yet he hesitated, with a flushed face. For the thing offeredwithout price or preface, by a man who had power to push him, by theman who even now was pushing Mr. Macaulay at Calne, tempted himsorely. Nor less--nor less because he remembered with bitterness thatSir Robert had made him no such offer, and now never would! So that ifhe refused this offer, he could look for no second from either side!
And yet he could not forget that Sir Robert was his kinsman, was thehead of his family, the donor of his vote. And in the night watches hehad decided that, his mind delivered, his independence declared, hewould not vote. Neither for Sir Robert--for conscience's sake; noragainst Sir Robert, for his name's sake!
Then how could he not only take an active part against him, but raisehis fortunes on his fall?
He drew a deep breath. And he put the temptation from him. "I am muchobliged to his lordship," he said quietly. "But I cannot accept hisoffer."
"Not accept it?" Mr. Pybus cried. "Mr. Vaughan! You don't mean it,sir! You don't mean it! It's a safe seat! It's in your own hands, Itell you! And after last night! Besides, it is not as if you had notdeclared yourself."
"I cannot accept it," Vaughan repeated coldly. "I am obliged to LordLansdowne for his kind thought of me. I beg you to convey my thanks tohim. But I cannot--in the position I occupy--accept the offer."
Mr. Pybus stared. Was it possible that the scene at the Vermuydendinner had been a ruse? A piece of play-acting to gain his secrets? Ifso--he was undone! "But," he quavered with an unhappy eye, "you are infavour of the Bill, Mr. Vaughan?"
"I am.
"And--and of Reform generally, I understand?"
"Certainly."
"Then--I don't understand? Why do you refuse?"
Vaughan raised his head and looked at him with a movement which wouldhave reminded Isaac White of Sir Robert. "That is my business," hesaid.
"But you see," Mr. Pybus remonstrated timidly--he was rather acrestfallen bird by this time--"I confess I was never more surprisedin my life! Never! You see I've told you all our secrets."
"I shall keep them."
"Yes, but--oh dear! oh dear!" Pybus was thinking of what he had saidabout Mrs. Pillinger of the Blue Duck. "I--I don't know what to say,"he added. "I am afraid I have been too hasty, very hasty! Veryprecipitate! Of course, Mr. Vaughan," he continued, "the offer wouldnot have been made if we had not thought you certain to accept it!"
"Then," Vaughan replied with dignity, "you can consider that it hasnot been made. I shall not name it for certain."
"Well! Well!"
"I can say no more," Vaughan continued coldly. "Indeed, there isnothing more to be said, Mr. Pybus?"
"No," piteously, "I suppose not. If you really won't change your mind,sir?"
"I shall not do that," the young man answered. And a minute later withMr. Pybus's faint appeals still sounding in his ears he was on theother side of the garden door, and striding down the alley, towardsthe King's Wall, whence making a detour he returned to the HighStreet.