When they had done, and there had followed another of those pauses with which their conversations were punctuated, Mrs. Graham said, "You are making very certain of Cicely, Jim."
"I'm going to claim her," said Jim quietly. "I was a fool not to do it before. I've wanted her badly enough."
Perhaps this news was as fresh to Mrs. Graham as it had been to all those others who had heard it lately. Perhaps it was no news at all. She was an observant woman and was accustomed to keep silence on many subjects, except when she was asked to speak, and then she spoke volubly.
"I have often wondered," she said, "why you left it so long."
Jim did not reply to this, but made another surprising statement. "I'm going to stand for Parliament," he said.
Mrs. Graham's observation had not covered this possibility. "Good gracious!" she exclaimed. "Not as a Liberal, I hope!"
"No, as a Free Trade Unionist."
"I should think you might as well save your time and your money."
"I don't expect to get in. But if I can find a seat to fight for, I'll fight."
"Well, I'll help you, Jim. I believe the others are right, but if you will give me something to read I dare say I can persuade myself that they're wrong. I like a good fight, and that is one thing you don't get the chance of when you live with your pigs and your poultry. Excuse me asking, but what about the money?"