CHAPTER VI. A DASH OF POLITICS
"Well, what is it, Molly,--what is it all about?" said Martin, as Maryentered the library, where he was sitting with an unread newspaperstretched across his knee.
"It is a piece of news Scanlan has brought, uncle, and not of the mostagreeable kind either."
"Then I'll not hear more of it," broke he in, pettishly.
"But you must, uncle, since without your own counsel and advice nothingcan be done."
"Do nothing, then," added he, sulkily.
"Come, come, I 'll not let you off thus easily," said she, passing anarm over his shoulder. "You know well I 'd not tease you if it could beavoided, but here is a case where I can be no guide. It is a question ofthe borough, Lord Kilmorris thinks himself strong enough to stand on hisown merits, and repudiates your aid and his own principles together."Martin's attention being now secured, she went on: "He says--at least aswell as I can follow his meaning--that with this new measure must come atotal change of policy,--abrogating all old traditions and old notions;that _you_, of course, are little likely to adopt this opinion, at leastat once, and so he releases you from all obligations to support him, andhimself from all tie to represent _you_."
"This is Lady Dorothy's doing," broke in Martin, passionately; "herconfounded letter-writing has brought this upon us. I told her thatthose fellows were trimming; I warned her that they were only waitingfor this Bill to pass, to turn round upon us as a barbarous old remnantof feudal oppression; but he dare n't do it, Molly,--Kilmorris has n'ta leg to stand upon in the borough. He could n't count upon twenty--no,not ten votes, without me. It's a scurvy trick, too, and it sha'n'tsucceed, if I stand for the borough myself." And he blurted out the lastwords as though they were the expression of an enmity driven to its lastresources.
"No, no, uncle," said she, caressingly; "after all you have yourselftold me of a parliamentary life, that must never be. Its unendingintrigues and petty plotting, its fatiguing days and harassing nights,its jealousies and disappointments, and defeats, all hard enough tobe borne by those who must make a trade of their politics, but utterlyinsupportable to one who, like you, can enjoy his independence. Do notthink of that, I beseech you."
"Then am I to see this man carry my own town in my very teeth?" criedhe, angrily. "Is that your advice to me?"
"You often spoke of Harry. Why not put him forward now he is cominghome?"
"Ay, and the very first thing he'll do will be to resign the seatbecause he had not been consulted about the matter before the election.You know him well, Molly; and you know that he exchanged into a regimentin India simply because I had obtained his appointment to the Blues.His amiable mother's disposition is strong in him!" muttered he, half tohimself, but loud enough to be heard by his niece.
"At all events, see Scanlan," said she; "learn how the matter reallystands; don't rely on my version of it, but see what Lord Kilmorrisintends, and take your own measures calmly and dispassionatelyafterwards."
"Is Scanlan engaged for him?"
"I think not. I suspect that negotiations are merely in progress."
"But if he even was," broke in Martin, violently, "I have made thefellow what he is, and he should do as I ordered him. Let him come in,Molly."
"He is not in the house, uncle; he went down to the village."
"Not here? Why didn't he wait? What impertinence is this?"
"He wished to bait his horses, and probably to get some breakfast forhimself, which I had not the politeness to offer him here."
"His horses? His tandem, I'll be sworn," said Martin, with a sneer."I 'll ask for no better evidence of what we are coming to than thatMaurice Scanlan drives about the county with a tandem."
"And handles them very neatly, too," said Mary, with a malicious sparkleof her eye, for she could n't refrain from the spiteful pleasure ofseeing her uncle in a regular fury for a mere nothing. All the moresalutary, as it withdrew his thoughts from weightier themes.
"I'm sure of it, Miss Martin. I'm certain that he is a most accomplishedwhip, and as such perfectly sure to find favor in _your_ eyes. Let himcome up here at once, however. Say I want him immediately," added he,sternly; and Mary despatched a servant with the message, and sat down infront of her uncle, neither uttering a word nor even looking towards theother.
"After all, Molly," said he, in the quiet, indolent tone so natural tohim--"after all, what does it signify who's in or who's out? I don'tcare a brass farthing about party or party triumphs; and even if I did,I 'm not prepared--What are you laughing at,--what is it amuses younow?" asked he, half testily, while she laughed out in all theunrestrained flow of joyous mirth.
"I have been waiting for that confession this half-hour, uncle, andreally I was beginning to be afraid of a disappointment. Why, dearestuncle, you were within a hair's breadth of forgetting your principles,and being actually caught, for once in your life, prepared and ready."
"Oh, is that it? Is it my embarrassment, then, that affords you so muchamusement?"
"Far from it," said she, affectionately. "I was only laughing at thatquiet little nook you retire to whenever you ought to be up and doing.Unprepared you say. Not a bit of it. Indisposed, indolent, unwilling,indifferent, any of these you like; but with a mind so full of its owngood resources, and as ready to meet every contingency as any one's,don't say you are unprepared. Come, now, bear with me this once, dearestuncle, and don't be angry if I throw myself, like a rock or sandbank,betwixt you and your harbor of refuge. But I hear Mr. Scanlan'svoice, and so I shall leave you. Be resolute, uncle, determined,and--'prepared'!" And with a gesture half menace and half drollery, sheleft the room as the attorney entered it.
Scanlan, like most of those who came but casually in contact withMartin, had conceived a low idea of his capacity,--lower by far thanit deserved, since behind his indolence there lay a fund of goodcommon-sense,--a mine, it must be acknowledged, that he seldom cared towork. The crafty man of law had, however, only seen him in his ordinarymoods of careless ease and idleness, and believed that pride of family,fortune, and position were the only ideas that found access to his mind,and that by a dexterous allusion to these topics it would always be aneasy task to influence and direct him.
"What's this my niece has been telling me of Lord Kilmorris?" saidMartin, abruptly, and without even replying to the salutations of theother, who hovered around a chair in an uncertainty as to whetherhe might dare to seat himself uninvited,--"he's going to contest theborough with us, is n't he?"
Scanlan leaned one arm on the back of the chair, and in a half-carelessway replied,--
"He is afraid that you and he don't quite agree, sir. He leans tomeasures that he suspects you may not altogether approve of."
"Come, come, none of this balderdash with me, Master Maurice. Has hebought the fellows already, or, rather, have you bought them? Out withit, man! What will he give? Name the sum, and let us treat the matter ina business-like way."
Scanlan sat down and laughed heartily for some minutes.
"I think you know me well enough, Mr. Martin, by this time," said he,"to say whether I'ma likely man to meddle with such a transaction."
"The very likeliest in Ireland; the man I 'd select amidst tenthousand."
"I am sorry to hear you say so, sir, that's all," said the other, with ahalf-offended air; "nor do I see that anything in my past life warrantsthe imputation."
Martin turned fiercely round, about to make a reply which, if onceuttered, would have ended all colloquy between them, when suddenlycatching himself he said, "Have you taken any engagement with hisLordship?"
"Not as yet, sir,--not formally, at least. My Lord has written me a veryfull statement of his ideas on politics, what he means to do, and soforth, and he seems to think that anything short of a very liberal linewould not give satisfaction to the electors."
"Who told him so? Who said that the borough was not perfectly contentwith the representative that--that"--he stammered and faltered--"thatits best friends had fixed upon to defend its int
erests? Who said that amember of my own family might not desire the seat?"
This announcement, uttered with a tone very much akin to menace, failedto produce either the astonishment or terror that Martin looked for, andactually supposing that the expression had not been heard, he repeatedit. "I say, sir, has any one declared that a Martin will not stand?"
"I am not aware of it," said Scanlan, quietly.
"Well, sir," cried Martin, as if unable to delineate the consequences,and wished to throw the weight of the duty on his opponent.
"There would be a warm contest, no doubt, sir," said Scanlan, guardedly.
"No, sir; nor the shadow of a contest," rejoined Martin, angrily."You'll not tell _me_ that my own town--the property that has been inmy family for seven centuries and more--would presume--that is, woulddesire--to--to--break the ties that have bound us to each other?"
"I wish I could tell you my mind, Mr. Martin, without offending you;that is, I wish you 'd let me just say what my own opinion is, andtake it for what it is worth, and in five minutes you 'd be in a betterposition to make up your mind about this matter than if we went ondiscussing it for a week." There was a dash of independence in hisutterance of these words that actually startled Martin; for, somehow,Scanlan had himself been surprised into earnestness by meeting with anenergy on the other's part that he had never suspected; and thus eachappeared in a new light to the other.
"May I speak out? Well, then, here is what I have to say: the ReliefBill is passed, the Catholics are now emancipated--"
"Yes, and be--" Martin caught himself with a cough, and the other wenton:--
"Well, then, if they don't send one of their own set into Parliament atonce, it is because they 'd like to affect, for a little while at least,a kind of confidence in the men who gave them their liberties. O'Connellhimself gave a pledge, that of two candidates, equal in all otherrespects, they'd select the Protestant; and so they would for a time.And it lies with you, and other men of your station, to determine howlong that interval is to last; for an interval it will only be, afterall. If you want to pursue the old system of 'keeping down,' you 'lldrive them at once into the hands of the extreme Papist party, who,thanks to yourselves, can now sit in Parliament; but if you 'll moderateyour views, take a humbler standard of your own power,--conciliate aprejudice here, obliterate an old animosity there--"
"In fact," broke in Martin, "swear by this new creed that Lord Kilmorrishas sent you a sketch of in his letter! Then I 'll tell you what, sir--I'd send the borough and all in it to the--"
"So you might, Mr. Martin, and you 'd never mend matters in the least,"broke he in, with great coolness.
There was now a dead silence for several minutes; at last Martin spoke,and it was in a tone and with a manner that indicated deep reflection:--
"I often said to those who would emancipate the Catholics, 'Are youprepared to change places with them? You have been in the ascendant agood many years, are you anxious now to try what the other side of themedal looks like? for, if not, leave them as they are.' Well, they didn't believe me; and maybe now my prophecy is nigh its accomplishment."
"It is very likely you were right, sir; but whether or not, it's the lawnow, and let us make the best of it," said Scanlan, who had a practicalman's aversion to all that savored of mere speculative reasoning.
"As how, for instance--in what way, Mr. Scanlan?" asked Martin, curtly.
"If you 'll not support Lord Kilmorris--"
"That I won't, I promise you; put that clean out of your head to beginwith."
"Well, then, there is but one other course open. Come to some compromisewith the Romanist party; if you don't like to give them a strayvote--and mark me, they 'd make better terms with _you_ than with astranger--but if you don't like that, why, take the representationalternately with them."
Martin rose from his chair and advanced close to where Scanlan wassitting, then, fixing his eyes steadfastly on him, said,--
"Who commissioned you to make this proposition to _me?_"
"No one, upon my oath. There is not a man breathing who has ever so muchas hinted at what I have just said to you."
"I'm glad of it; I'm heartily glad of it," said Martin, calmly reseatinghimself. "I'm glad there is not another fellow in this county your equalin impudence! Aye, Mr. Scanlan, you heard me quite correctly. I saw manya change going on amongst us, and I foresaw many more; but that a Martinof Cro' Martin should be taught his political duty by Maurice Scanlan,and that that duty consisted in a beggarly alliance with the riff-raffof a county town,--that was, indeed, a surprise for which I was in nowise prepared."
"Well, sir, I 'm sorry if I have given any offence," said Scanlan,rising, and, in a voice of the most quiet intonation, making hisexcuses. "Your rejection of the counsel I was bold enough to suggestleaves me, at least, at liberty to offer my services where they will notbe rejected so contumeliously."
"Is this a threat, Mr. Scanlan?" said Martin, with a supercilious smile.
"No, sir, nothing of the kind. I know too well what becomes _my_station, and is _due to yours_, to forget myself so far; but as youdon't set any value on the borough yourself, and as there may be otherswho do--"
"Stay and eat your dinner here, Scanlan," said Martin.
"I promised Mrs. Cronan, sir--"
"Send an apology to her; say it was _my_ fault,--that I detained you."And without waiting for a reply, Martin sauntered from the room, leavingthe attorney alone with his reflections.
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