"I thought you would be in political life here!"
"I have had an offer--an exciting and flattering offer. May I tell you?"
He turned to her eagerly; and she smiled her sympathy, her curiosity. Whereupon he took a letter from his pocket--a letter from the Dominion Prime Minister, offering him a mission of inquiry to England, on some important matters connected with labour and emigration. The letter was remarkable, addressed to a man so young, and on the threshold of his political career.
Elizabeth congratulated him warmly.
"Of course you will come to stay with us!"
It was his turn to redden.
"You are very kind," he said formally. "As you know, I shall have everything to learn."
"I will show you our farms!" cried Elizabeth, "and all our dear decrepit life--our little chessboard of an England."
"How proud you are, you Englishwomen!" he said, half frowning. "You run yourselves down--and at bottom there is a pride like Lucifer's."
"But it is not my pride," she said, hurt, "any more than yours. We are yours--and you are ours. One state--one country."