"I must know if the gossip is true first," replied Paul.
"There's not so much doubt about it," replied the other. "Ned Wilson here is bound to be in the know. Perhaps," added the man with a laugh, "Ned'll sign your nomination papers!"
"Or send out a circular without signing it!" said Paul. And everyone laughed as he spoke, because it was fully known what he meant.
"My dear fellow," retorted Wilson, "what you and your party do is nothing to me! If there is another election I shall have nothing to do with it. I am as fond of a fight as any man, and under certain circumstances I would even fight a man of your calibre, but there is no necessity for it now!"
Paul's face was pale to the lips. He hated a scene, hated the thought that his private affairs were being discussed in such a place. He could not help feeling that there was something vulgar about it all, and he in a moment of forgetfulness had yielded to what, had he been calmer, he would have resisted to the utmost. Still, his anger was aroused, and he saw that those who stood around were enjoying the situation.
"That's a matter of opinion," he replied. "At any rate, my name has never been associated with sending out a lying circular. And I have never been ashamed to put my name to any document I wrote! I never hired a barrister to tell lies about anyone, and I never stabbed a man in the back!"
"What do you mean?" asked Wilson. "Why should I stab a man in the back?"
"Because you're afraid to meet him face to face!"
"By God! you shall pay for that," said Wilson, and his voice quivered with rage.
It was the first time Paul had spoken to Wilson for many a long day. As we have said, he had, ever since the election especially, refrained from having any intercourse with him, and he would have given anything to have recalled the words he had uttered. He had fought with the weapons of a clown. He had bandied words with a man who was openly his enemy, and he felt ashamed of himself. Still, nothing could be done now, and, on the whole, he did not think he had had the worst of the encounter. All the same, he knew that if Wilson had hated him before, he hated him more now. And he was sure that if he were able to harm him in any way, he would stop at nothing to carry out his purposes. As to Paul's financial position, he did not so much fear. He was on safer ground now, and was able to meet any ordinary difficulty; but there were other things. He wondered whether Wilson ever guessed the secret of his heart, wondered whether he knew that he was a would-be rival. That Wilson was enamoured of Mary Bolitho was universally believed, but whether she in any way returned his affection no one was able to guess.