"Why do you tell me this?" she asked.
"I want you to help me," said Wenderby, and again he looked at her.
"How can that be?" she protested, avoiding his eyes.
"I'm not yet sure what I ought to do. I shall be giving up a great deal in leaving the Cabinet. I'm the youngest minister with a platform following. In a few years I should be leading the Party."
"What would become of your principles?" Lady Mary objected.
"They would suffer," he curtly replied. "But I should do my best for them. At any rate, I should do less harm than any other conceivable head of a Liberal Cabinet."
"You would be a fraud," she flashed.
"Not without justification," he coolly answered.
"Sophistry."
"Not at all. Making the best of a bad business."