"But General Waymouth has been eliminated, you young idiot. It was the combination of circumstances that made him a candidate. But those circumstances have been changed. I can't explain to you how, Harlan—not here and now. But a brand-new trump has been turned. It had to be done. You stay behind here with Linton and talk with Luke."
The ladies were rising from the table.
Harlan did not reply. He did not remain. He stepped aside and allowed the ladies to pass, and followed them from the alcove. Presson stared after him angrily. Linton, obeying his request, sat down after Mrs. Presson and her party had retired.
"You've got a fool, there, for a grandson, Thelismer," stated the chairman with decision.
"He doesn't seem to be a politician," returned the old man, gazing after him. "There are a few joints in a man that he ought to be able to bend in politics, but Harlan seems to be afflicted with a sort of righteous ossification. He'll have to have his lesson, that's all!"
The young man was not in the mood to accept Miss Presson's invitation to accompany them to the hotel parlor. In the corridor he refused so brusquely that she stood and gazed at him, allowing the others to go on without her.
"You seem to be taking politics very seriously, Mr. Harlan Thornton."
"I'm taking honesty and my pledges seriously, that's all."
"Then your honesty puts you in opposition to my father, does it, sir?" It was said with a spark of resentment. "Do you realize how that sounds?"
"I do not say so, Miss Presson."