e Liberal side; but they would in fact be led to the poll by an
old-fashioned, time-honoured adherence to the will of their great
Llama; and by an apprehension of evil if that Llama should arise and
shake himself in his wrath. What might not come to the county if the
Llama were to walk himself off, he with his satellites and armies and
courtiers? There he was, a great Llama; and though he came among them
but seldom, and was scarcely seen when he did come, nevertheless--and
not the less but rather the more--was obedience to him considered as
salutary and opposition regarded as dangerous. A great rural Llama
is still sufficiently mighty in rural England. But the priest of
the temple, Mr. Fothergill, was frequent enough in men's eyes, and
it was beautiful to hear with how varied a voice he alluded to the
things around him and to the changes which were coming. To the small
farmers, not only on the Gatherum property, but on others also, he
spoke of the duke as a beneficent influence shedding prosperity on
all around him, keeping up prices by his presence, and forbidding
the poor rates to rise above one and fourpence in the pound by the
general employment which he occasioned. Men must be mad, he thought,
who would willingly fly in the duke's face. To the squires from a
distance he declared that no one had a right to charge the duke
with any interference; as far, at least, as he knew the duke's mind.
People would talk of things of which they understood nothing. Could
any one say that he had traced a single request for a vote home to
the duke? All this did not alter the settled conviction on men's
minds; but it had its effect, and tended to increase the mystery in
which the duke's doings were enveloped. But to his own familiars, to
the gentry immediately around him, Mr. Fothergill merely winked his
eye. They knew what was what, and so did he. The duke had never been
bit yet in such matters, and Mr. Fothergill did not think that he
would now submit himself to any such operation.

I never heard in what manner and at what rate Mr. Fothergill received
remuneration for the various services performed by him with reference
to the duke's property in Barsetshire; but I am very sure that,
whatever might be the amount, he earned it thoroughly. Never was
there a more faithful partisan, or one who, in his partisanship, was
more discreet. In this matter of the coming election he declared that
he himself--personally, on his own hook--did inte