“Yes. And that being so, why should we not agree, my lord and you—to save Kerry’s pocket shall I say—to bring forward a candidate alternately?”
Sir Robert shook his head gravely. He would fight.
“Allowing to you, Sir Robert, as the owner of the influence hitherto dominant in the borough, the first return.”
“The first return—after the Bill passes?”
“Yes.”
That was a different thing. That was another thing altogether. A gleam of satisfaction shone for an instant under the baronet’s bushy eyebrows. The object he had most at heart was to oust his treacherous cousin. And here was a method, sure and safe: more safe by far than any contest under the new Bill?
“Well I—I cannot say anything at this moment,” he said, at last, trying to hide his satisfaction. “These heats once over I do not see—your ladyship will pardon me—why my influence should not still predominate.”
It was Lady Lansdowne’s turn. “And things be as before?” she answered. “No, Sir Robert, no. You forget those rights of the people which you were so kind as to support a moment ago. Things will not be as before. But—but perhaps I shall hear from you? Of course it is not a matter that can be settled, as in the old days, by our people.”
“You shall certainly hear,” he said, with something more than courtesy. “In the meantime——”
“I am dying to see your daughter,” she answered. “I am told that she is very lovely. Where is she?”