Odo looked up in surprise. "You do not mean that he has come to believe in it?"
Gamba smiled. "Probably not in your Highness's sense; but he may have found a use of his own for it."
"What do you mean?" Odo asked.
"If he does not believe it will benefit the state he may think it will injure your Highness."
"Ah—" said the Duke slowly.
There was a pause, during which he was possessed by the same shuddering reluctance to fix his mind on the facts before him as when he had questioned the hunchback about Momola's death. He longed to cast the whole business aside, to be up and away from it, drawing breath in a new world where every air was not tainted with corruption. He raised his head with an effort.
"You think, then, that the liberals are secretly acting against me in this matter?"
"I am persuaded of it, your Highness."
Odo hesitated. "You have always told me," he began again, "that the love of dominion was your brother's ruling passion. If he really believes this movement will be popular with the people, why should he secretly oppose it, instead of making the most of his own share in it as the minister of a popular sovereign?"
"For several reasons," Gamba answered promptly. "In the first place, the reforms your Highness has introduced are not of his own choosing, and Trescorre has little sympathy with any policy he has not dictated. In the second place, the powers and opportunities of a constitutional minister are too restricted to satisfy his appetite for rule; and thirdly—" he paused a moment, as though doubtful how his words would be received—"I suspect Trescorre of having a private score against your Highness, which he would be glad to pay off publicly."