o him. His procedure in
writing them had been, of course, entirely correct. It is the business
of a party leader to persuade. But he had warned Oliver from the
beginning that only portions of them could or should be used in the
informal negotiations they were meant to help. Ferrier had always been
incorrigibly frank in his talk or correspondence with Marsham, ever
since the days when as an Oxford undergraduate, bent on shining at the
Union, Oliver had first shown an interest in politics, and had found in
Ferrier, already in the front rank, the most stimulating of teachers.
These remarkable letters accordingly contained a good deal of the
caustic or humorous discussion of Parliamentary personalities, in which
Ferrier--Ferrier at his ease--excelled; and many passages, besides, in
connection with the measures desired by the Left Wing of the party,
steeped in the political pessimism, whimsical or serious, in which
Ferrier showed perhaps his most characteristic side at moments of
leisure or intimacy; while the moods expressed in outbreaks of the kind
had little or no effect on his pugnacity as a debater or his skill as a
party strategist, in face of the enemy.

But, by George! if they were indiscreetly shown, or repeated, some of
those things might blow up the party! Ferrier uncomfortably remembered
one or two instances during the preceding year, in which it had occurred
to him--as the merest fleeting impression--that Oliver had repeated a
saying or had twisted an opinion of his unfairly--puzzling instances, in
which, had it been any one else, Ferrier would have seen the desire to
snatch a personal advantage at his, Ferrier's, expense. But how
entertain such a notion in the case of Oliver! Ridiculous!

He would write no more letters, however. With the news of the
Dunscombe meeting the relations between himself and Oliver
entered upon a new phase. Toward Lucy's son he must bear
himself--politically--henceforward, not as the intimate confiding friend
or foster-father, but as the statesman with greater interests than his
own to protect. This seemed to him clear; yet the effort to adjust his
mind to the new conditions gave him deep and positive pain.

But what, after all, were his grievances compared with those of this
soft-eyed girl? It pricked his conscience to remember how feebly he had
fought her battle. She must know that he had done little or nothing for
her; yet there was something peculiarly gentle, one might have thou