“Well, then, I was cross enough to say to myself, ‘Antony can just tell his worries to The Bill men and I’ll be bound he does.’ So he got no chance for a good talk and I didn’t let Sarah Sykes trouble my mind at all; but I can tell thee that all thy goodness to the Annis weavers is written down on their hearts, and thou and thine are safe whatever happens.”
“I am thankful for thy words. Will tha sit an hour with me?”
“I’ll not leave thee to-night if thou wants to talk to me.”
“Oh, my joy! How good thou art! There is not a woman in England to marrow thee.”
“Come then to the parlor and we will have a cup of tea and thou will tell me all thy fears about The Bill and I’ll sit with thee until thou wants to go back to The House.”
So he kissed her and told her again how dear she was to him and how much he relied on her judgment, and they went to the parlor like lovers, or like something far better. For if they had been only lovers, they could not have known the sweetness, and strength, and unity of a married love twenty-six years old. And as they drank their tea, Annis made clear to his wife the condition of affairs in The Commons, and she quickly became as much interested in the debate going on as himself. “It hes been going on now,” he said, “for three nights, and will probably continue all this night and mebbe longer.”
“Then will it be settled?”
“Nothing is settled, Annie, till it is settled right, and if The Commons settle it right the lords may turn it out altogether again—if they dare. However, thou hes given me a far lighter heart and I’ll mebbe hev a word or two to say mysen to-night, for the question of workmen’s wages is coming up and I’d like to give them my opinion on that subject.”
“It would be a good thing if the government fixed the wages of the workers. It might put a stop to strikes.”
“Not it! Workingmen’s wages are as much beyond the control of government as the fogs of the Atlantic. Who can prevent contractors from underselling one another? Who can prevent workmen from preferring starvation wages, rather than no wages at all? The man who labors knows best what his work is worth and you can’t blame him for demanding what is just and fair. Right is right in the devil’s teeth. If you talk forever, you’ll niver get any forrarder than that; but I have always noticed that when bad becomes bad enough, right returns.”