“And you think you can be my mouthpiece there?” asked the Duke, a little grimly. “Boy, do you not think I could find a better mouthpiece for my views than you will ever make?”
But the question was put with a smile which made Eustace believe that there would not be much of a battle to fight. His kinsman was not without the strong family feeling which was so strong a characteristic of his race; and the very fact that Eustace desired the seat was a strong reason why he should have it. With all his advanced views, he was a Marchmont, and a man of rectitude and high principle. That the Reform Bill would assuredly pass the next House of Commons the whole country fully believed, and the Duke also. There was a good deal in Eustace’s argument about getting it drawn up and debated by the best stamp of men possible.
“But you—what has so changed your view?” asked the old man, suddenly turning upon Eustace, and looking keenly at him. “When first I made my offer, it only evoked a tirade against the abuse of rotten or pocket boroughs, as I think you called them. I was led to imagine that you would recoil in horror from profiting by such an abuse; and behold, here are you in a year’s time craving to advance yourself by that very means! How comes that, my fine young redresser of evils? How can you reconcile it to your conscience to accept the seat which you dispute my right to hold?”
A flush mounted to Eustace’s face.
“I accept it, and even crave it, that I may be one of those to abolish it in the future. Till the laws are amended, the abuse must last, and to amend those laws is the aim and object of my life. I admit that my position is one which appears inconsistent. You can easily put me in a dilemma by well-planted questions; but my mind is clear and my conscience too. You have to find a candidate for this seat, and I, as your next of kin, desire it. I openly proclaim to you the fact that once I am seated in Parliament, I shall strain every nerve to accomplish the abolition of the abuse by which I have gained my seat so readily; but I am neither afraid nor ashamed to seek it now. I will profit by the iniquity to expunge that iniquity from our country for ever!”
“To do a great right, do a little wrong,” quoted the Duke thoughtfully. “Well, Eustace, you shall have the seat if you desire it, but I cannot help feeling that I wish you had not asked me for it, or been willing to take it.”
The flush deepened in Eustace’s face as the Duke spoke, and he caught the answering glance in Bride’s eyes. He had purposely made his request before her, although it cost him something to do it. He wished to prove to himself that he had the courage of his opinions, and was not ashamed of the trifling inconsistency, which he explained away again and again to what he called his own satisfaction. He was not prepared to make himself the laughing-stock of his friends in town for a scruple of this sort; but he wished he could have avoided the apparent inconsistency with these kinsfolk of his, who appeared to look on at the strife of parties and the battle of life from an altitude which was rather perplexing and discomfiting.
“I am greatly obliged, sir,” said Eustace, hardly believing the battle was already won. He had looked for much more argument and resistance. “I will try to be worthy of the trust reposed in me. I hope you do not distrust me for my willingness to take advantage for once of this custom so soon to be made obsolete?”
“I do not distrust your loyalty to your cause; I think you deserve to sit in the next House, and may in time make yourself of value to your party. At the same time, since you do hold so strongly your advanced views, I had rather you obtained your seat in another fashion, speaking simply from a moral and theoretic standpoint.”
“I agree with you there, in theory,” answered Eustace eagerly. “I wish the world could be governed according to theory; but, alas! in practice too many of our brightest and best theories break down. If I had any chance of winning a seat by an ordinary contest, I would gladly do so; but I know that I have not. I am an untried man, and unknown in any constituency. I should not stand the ghost of a chance; and the bribery and corruption of an election under such conditions is too revolting to think of.”