“I hope so; for your speech and Fairfield’s answer have damaged you terribly with the Blues. However, your main hope rests on my power to keep those Hundred and Fifty rascals from splitting their votes on Egerton, and to induce them, by all means short of bringing myself before a Committee of the House of Commons for positive bribery,—which would hurt most seriously my present social position,—to give one vote to you. I shall tell them, as I have told the Committee, that Egerton is safe, and will pay nothing; but that you want the votes, and that I—in short, if they can be bought upon tick, I will buy them. Avenel, however, can serve you best here; for as they are all Yellows at heart, they make no scruple of hinting that they want twice as much for voting Blue as they will take for voting Yellow. And Avenel being a townsman, and knowing their ways, could contrive to gain them, and yet not bribe.”
RANDAL (shaking his head incredulously).—“Not bribe!”
LEVY.—“Pooh! Not bribe so as to be found out.” There was a knock at the door. A servant entered and presented Mr. Egerton’s compliments to Baron Levy, with a request that the baron would immediately come to his rooms for a few minutes.
“Well,” said Levy, when the servant had withdrawn, “I must go to Egerton, and the instant I leave him I shall repair to the town. Perhaps I may pass the night there.” So saying, he left Randal, and took his way to Audley’s apartment.
“Levy,” said the statesman, abruptly, upon the entrance of the baron, “have you betrayed my secret—my first marriage—to Lord L’Estrange?”
“No, Egerton; on my honour, I have not betrayed it.”
“You heard his speech! Did you not detect a fearful irony under his praises, or is it but—but-my conscience?” added the proud man, through his set teeth.
“Really,” said Levy, “Lord L’Estrange seemed to me to select for his praise precisely those points in your character which any other of your friends would select for panegyric.”
“Ay, any other of my friends!—What friends?” muttered Egerton, gloomily. Then, rousing himself, he added, in a voice that had none of its accustomed clear firmness of tone, “Your presence here in this house, Levy, surprised me, as I told you at the first; I could not conceive its necessity. Harley urged you to come,—he with whom you are no favourite! You and he both said that your acquaintance with Richard Avenel would enable you to conciliate his opposition. I cannot congratulate you on your success.”
“My success remains to be proved. The vehemence of his attack may be but a feint to cover his alliance to-morrow.”