“They wouldn’t,” he said. “There’s nobody with any grip. And you’d see, in this country, people would soon want to be good again, because it costs them least effort.”
“Perhaps Kangaroo is right, and they don’t want to be anything but good.”
Jaz shook his head.
“It’s not goodness they’re after just now,” he said. “They want to rip things up, or they want nothing. They aren’t ready to come under Kangaroo’s loving wing just yet. They’d as leave be under King George’s thumb, they can peep out easier. It seems to me, it’s spite that’s at the bottom, with most men. And they’ve got to let it out before anything’s any good.”
Somers began to feel tired now.
“But after all, Jaz,” he said, “what have I got to do with it?”
“You can put it to Kangaroo. You can make him see it. And you can keep him to it, if you promise him you’ll stick to him.”
“Me a power behind the throne?” protested the truly sceptical Richard.
“I take it you don’t want to sit on the throne yourself,” smiled Jaz. “And Kangaroo’s got more the figure. But what do you think of it?”
Somers was silent. He now was smiling subtly and ironically, and Jaz was watching him sharply, like a man who wants something. Jaz waited.