“You think, then, that the ministry really cannot last?”
“Of course I do; and what is more, I think that a ministry of the same principles cannot be restored. You are a young man of talent and spirit; your birth is nothing compared to the rank of the reigning party; it would tell, to a certain degree, in a democratic one. I say, you should be more civil to Avenel; he could return you to parliament at the next election.”
“The next election! In six years! We have just had a general election.”
“There will be another before this year, or half of it, or perhaps a quarter of it, is out.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Leslie, let there be confidence between us; we can help each other. Shall we be friends?”
“With all my heart. But though you may help me, how can I help you?”
“You have helped me already to Frank Hazeldean and the Casino estate. All clever men can help me. Come, then, we are friends; and what I say is secret. You ask me why I think there will be a general election so soon? I will answer you frankly. Of all the public men I ever met with, there is no one who has so clear a vision of things immediately before him as Audley Egerton.”
“He has that character. Not far-seeing, but clear-sighted to a certain limit.”
“Exactly so. No one better, therefore, knows public opinion and its immediate ebb and flow.”