"Well, he wants to, pretty nearly," added a capitalist.
"But the country will take a very different view. Puttock'll rub it into all his people: they'll not vote for him. What do you say, Coxon?"
"I think we shall beat him badly," said that gentleman, as he rose and went out.
Captain Heseltine soon followed, and was surprised to see Coxon's figure just ahead of him as he entered the gates of Government House.
"Hang the fellow! What does he want here?" asked the Captain.
Mr. Coxon asked for Lady Eynesford. When he entered, she rose with a newspaper in her hand.
"What a shocking, shameful thing this is!" she said. "What a blessing it is that the Government was beaten!"
Coxon acquiesced in both these opinions.
"I never thought well of him," continued the lady. "Now everybody sees him in his true colours. And it's you we have chiefly to thank for our deliverance."