"And if the Socialists fail?"
"Well, then they'll make their last stand in Germany. But you know this better than I do, Monsignor?"
"I know a good deal here and there," confessed the other; "but I find it hard sometimes to combine it all. I had an illness, you know——"
"Ah, yes; yes."
They paused for breath in an embrasure in the wall, where a section of a half-tower supported the wall, itself running down on to the cliff side. A couple of windows gave a view of the sea, now a dark gulf under the cloudy sky, sprinkled with a few moving lights, here and there, of vessels going up or down the Channel.
"And suppose the Bill passes?" began the priest.
"If the Bill passes, we need fear nothing in England if it passes with a good majority. You know Government is an extraordinarily delicate machine nowadays; and if the Bill goes through really well, it'll be an infallible sign that the country refuses to take alarm. And if it fails, or only narrowly passes—well, it'll be the other way. The whole work will have to be done again, or at least begun——"
He faced round suddenly.
"Monsignor," he said, "I wouldn't say this to everyone. But I tell you we're at a very critical moment. These Socialists are stronger than any one dreamed. Their organization is simply perfect. Do you know any of them?"
"I have met Hardy."