FFAIR 
 OF STATE 
 
 J-C-SNAITH
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OP 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 . SAN DIEGO 
 
 ^-ii .__ _---- - -
 
 3 1822 01226 7761
 
 AN AFFAIR OF STATE
 
 OF STATE 
 
 J. C . Shaith 
 
 Garden City,New*tork 
 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE ff CO., 
 1013 
 
 .".
 
 Copyright, 1913. by 
 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved, including thai of 
 
 translation into foreign languages, 
 
 including the Scandinavian
 
 AN AFFAIR OF STATE
 
 PART ONE 
 THE CRISIS 
 
 ON a winter's evening, not long ago, a man was 
 walking along Bond Street in London, in a 
 downpour of rain. Beneath his rather shabby over- 
 coat was a suit of evening clothes, although a pair of 
 thick boots and a bowler hat did not suggest its 
 presence. It was a dirty night. At frequent 
 intervals the wind, in sudden, fitful gusts, came 
 shrieking round the corners of the by-streets that 
 run into the famous thoroughfare. Every yard of 
 his progress had to be fought for, but there was some- 
 thing about the compact and powerful figure which 
 seemed to welcome this contention with the elements. 
 The face of the man, undefended by an umbrella, 
 was full of power. The large aggressive nose and 
 the fighting jaw literally clove their way through 
 wind and water. There was a look of subtle satis- 
 faction about him, as of a full-blooded animal 
 occupied worthily. In the square-fronted march 
 through the teeth of the gale, in the drive of tke 
 
 3
 
 4 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 athletic limbs, there was the stern delight that 
 warriors feel. Wind and water furiously contested 
 every yard that he made; but this Titan, chin in the 
 air, a grim smile upon his face, abated not a point in 
 his course. 
 
 At the Grafton Street crossing an unseen power, 
 subtle and mysterious, which is called Chance in the 
 present age of science, leaped suddenly to the aid 
 of the agents of the air. The wayfarers stepped off 
 the pavement boldly, perhaps a little unwarily, for 
 the shops were closed and the street lamps gave none 
 too much light, just as a taximeter cab dashed 
 noiselessly round the corner of the street. Only a 
 man of uncommon quickness and presence of mind 
 could have saved himself. 
 
 He sprang back to the pavement, but quick as 
 he was the lamp of the vehicle missed him by a 
 hairbreadth, while its wheels flung a liberal supply 
 of mud over his garments. Further agility was 
 necessary to avoid a collision with a policeman who 
 had just tried the door of a jeweller's shop. 
 
 "Constable, did you notice that fellow?" 
 
 The tone was challenging, imperious, and yet by 
 some miracle it was perfectly polite. 
 
 Constable X94 paid the involuntary homage of a 
 demeanour that was both alert and respectful. 
 
 "Yes, sir, I did. I wish I could have seen his 
 number."
 
 THE CRISIS 5 
 
 "LC 00942. Take it down. I shall try my best 
 to have an example made of him. The law ought to 
 have the power to hang such scoundrels." 
 
 Constable X94 stepped into the jeweller's door- 
 way and produced his notebook. 
 
 "You are quite right, sir," he said with an air of 
 conviction equal to that of the man who had so 
 narrowly escaped being run over. " It's cruel the way 
 they come round these corners at night. Only last 
 week a gentleman was killed not a hundred yards from 
 here. What might be your name and address, sir?" 
 
 "James Draper, 200 Queen Anne's Gate." 
 
 The policeman entered the information in his book. 
 
 "Not the Mr. Draper, sir?" 
 
 " If you will have it so." The laugh accompany- 
 ing the words was deep and musical. 
 
 "A nice thing for the country if he had run over 
 you, sir!" There was fervour in the tone of Con- 
 stable X94. 
 
 "He would have made a few friends for himself, 
 I dare say." 
 
 The Mr. Draper was pleasantly sardonic, but 
 Constable X94 remained stolid and quite serious. 
 
 "Not among those who know, sir, I give you my 
 word. He'd have done a bad evening's work for 
 his country." 
 
 "Thank you, constable." A sudden accession of 
 feeling vibrated in the deep voice of the man in the
 
 6 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 bowler hat. "Although, mind I don't say you are 
 right," and then he added with a cordiality that was 
 somehow magnetic, "Good-night I" 
 
 "Good-night, sir!" said Constable X94- 
 
 The pedestrian turned to make another attempt 
 to cross the street. This time he was successful. 
 Doggedly he fought his way until he came to Bruton 
 Street. Turning down that thoroughfare he came 
 at last to a famous house at the extreme end of the 
 street. It was a large cheerless mansion of Georgian 
 aspect, with an ugly courtyard to keep it sacred 
 from the passers-by. 
 
 Mr. Draper crossed the courtyard and rang the 
 bell of the imposing entrance. 
 
 The doors swung back at once with a sweeping swift- 
 ness that was half majestic, half magical. There was 
 a gorgeous vision of powdered wigs and silk stock- 
 ings; of a grave, patriarchal presence in the back- 
 ground; there was a fairylike glimpse of a gorgeous in- 
 terior; there was a sensuous rush of warmth and light. 
 
 One overdressed functionary at once relieved Mr. 
 Draper of his hat, a second helped him to remove his 
 soaked chesterfield overcoat, a third and a fourth 
 closed the doors; and while the pedestrian turned 
 down the ends of his trousers, an office he was fain 
 to perform for himself, a senior servant in the back- 
 ground made his way gravely forward through the 
 press of his satellites to greet his visitor.
 
 THE CRISIS 7 
 
 "Good evening, Harpole." The air of the visitor 
 had the composure of one who so far from being im- 
 pressed by such a reception was a little bored by 
 it. "A nasty night! The Duke is at Lobourne, I 
 suppose ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, his Grace went down to Lobourne on 
 Friday. He is expected back in the course of to- 
 morrow." 
 
 The servant led the way up a staircase of white 
 marble, through a suite of reception rooms which 
 had a number of famous pictures set in their satin- 
 wood panels, until, coming to the threshold of an 
 inner room, he announced his visitor. 
 
 This apartment, much smaller than the others, had 
 a slightly obtrusive note of luxury which suggested 
 the feminine. Its cushions were profuse, oriental, 
 languorous; there were evidences of taste and per- 
 ception in the charming trifles with which it was 
 carelessly strewn; the rug on the floor was a delight 
 to the foot; and the seductive warmth of the place 
 was not rendered less fragrant by the fumes of a 
 scented tobacco. 
 
 Howbeit, merely to catalogue these details is to 
 render only half their significance. The room had 
 another, an austerer aspect. There was a case full 
 of books and a table full of magazines; there was a 
 small plaster cast of a well-known statesman on the 
 chimneypiece; Plato in bronze was on the top of
 
 8 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 the bookcase; the Constitutional Review was lying face 
 down on a sofa. On this sofa was seated the only 
 person the room contained: a woman in a plain 
 black gown smoking a cigarette. 
 
 She was an impressive, formidable, handsome 
 person, large and rather masculine of feature. At 
 the temples the thick black hair was turning gray, 
 and this lent a touch of picturesque austerity to the 
 face which was that of a woman of forty. It was a 
 sensitive face, full of fineness and perception. About 
 the mouth there was perhaps a faint trace of cyni- 
 cism, the curves of the nose and chin held the love of 
 power, but, beyond everything, in the gray eyes was 
 the high light of a humorous candour. 
 
 "Eh bien, mon cher!" The occupant of the sofa 
 aimed a cigarette, three parts consumed, at the fire- 
 place and missed it easily. "Mayn't I tempt you?" 
 She held out her gold case. 
 
 The visitor in his soaked and bespattered thick 
 boots, in his old dinner jacket and rather muddy 
 trousers, looked curiously out of harmony with his 
 surroundings. But somehow he had the subtle air 
 of one who did not move in the plane of the merely 
 objective. 
 
 "Thanks, no." Mr. Draper picked the lighted 
 end of the cigarette off the hearthrug and dropped 
 it in the fire. "I have only once smoked a ciga- 
 rette. And then I thought it a waste of time and
 
 THE CRISIS 9 
 
 money. I was a shop assistant then," he added re- 
 flectively. 
 
 "Autres temps, autres moeurs?" 
 
 "I don't agree with you, madam. Once a shop 
 assistant, a shop assistant always. It is something 
 in the blood. One couldn't change it if one would, 
 and one wouldn't if one could." 
 
 The Duchess of Rockingham laughed. Her very 
 large and singularly attractive mouth displayed two 
 dazzlingly symmetrical rows of white teeth. 
 
 "I don't believe you," she said. "You know it's 
 only a pose. You know in your heart you simply 
 hate 'em." 
 
 "You've no right to say that, Evelyn," said 
 Mr. Draper. "Shop assistants are just as essential 
 as duchesses. More I think. I won't have you 
 say it." 
 
 Mr. Draper took the Constitutional Review off 
 its face, closed it and laid in on the table. 
 
 "A book also, to my mind, has its corporate 
 dignity and its fixed habit of life. It is subversive 
 of both to be left open, face down, on a sofa." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham chose a cigarette. 
 
 "Now you have lost my place," she said plain- 
 tively. "Still, I forgive you." Her eyes brimmed 
 with humour. " You are in your best form to-night." 
 
 "Page 996 but life is too short for such twad- 
 dle."
 
 io AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Mr. Draper handed the cigar-lighter and assisted 
 her Grace with a quiet efficiency eminently honour- 
 able in a confirmed non-smoker. 
 
 "Yes, it is twaddle." 
 
 "Of course it is twaddle." 
 
 "Well, sit here you Berserk." Her Grace took in 
 a reef, and indicated a vacant space on the sofa. 
 "There is just room for our iete-d-tete" 
 
 Mr. Draper sat on the sofa. 
 
 "Do you know what I want to say to you?" 
 
 "Not in the least." Mr. Draper's words were 
 light, but there was something in his manner which 
 belied them. 
 
 "Guess!" 
 
 "I don't believe in guessing when there is exact 
 information to be had for the asking." 
 
 "Don't be too sure of that." There was a shade 
 of pique in the tone. If such a self-security did not 
 actually call for rebuke, it jarred a little on the femi- 
 nine mechanism. "And suppose, my dear James, it 
 is not to be had for the asking, how, pray, are you 
 going to get it?" 
 
 "By grasping the throat of Metternich, milady." 
 
 The answer came clear, pat, immediate. 
 
 Milady laughed. 
 
 "One doesn't seem to recognize the tone of 'the 
 nobleman with the bald head,' " said she. 
 
 Mr. Draper laughed also.
 
 THE CRISIS ii 
 
 "Ah, you are all alike in that," he said. "You, 
 none of you quite realize that if you scratch the shop 
 assistant you come up against the genus Englishman, 
 the G d Britisher. Perhaps you'll find it out." 
 " I'm afraid we have found it out already." 
 Evelyn's laugh was rich, clear, spontaneous. She 
 lit another cigarette.
 
 II 
 
 I DON'T know about that," said Mr. Draper 
 with the air of a man thinking. "I have a 
 theory that you never find out anything." 
 
 "Whom do you mean by * you ' ? " 
 
 "You patricians." 
 
 "Are there any these days?" 
 
 Mr. Draper reflected a little. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "I think there are a few. But," 
 he added with his engaging frankness, "as far as I 
 am concerned the discovery is comparatively recent. 
 I used to think that caste was only a veneer, but since 
 I've married Aline I find that it isn't." 
 
 Evelyn was amused. 
 
 "A graceful compliment, neatly turned," she said. 
 "I am sure you didn't learn that from Aline. In 
 fact, my dear James, one can't imagine you learning 
 anything from that poor child. I am quite sure the 
 Carlows have nothing to teach you." 
 
 "Oh, yes, they have," said Mr. Draper with his eyes 
 glowing. " Everybody has something to teach me. I 
 am always learning things. Nicholson, my butler, has 
 taught me a lot. He is another of your patricians."" 
 
 12
 
 THE CRISIS 13 
 
 " I hope you don't talk like this to Aline." 
 
 "No, of course one can't, poor child. And there's 
 the rub for both of us. I'm sometimes afraid of 
 the future." 
 
 "My dear James, you need not fear that," said 
 his mentor. "Still, you ought never to have 
 married her, you know; although, of course, she is 
 rather a darling." 
 
 "Yes, it is all a glorious mistake-- if one can 
 only keep from making her too unhappy." 
 
 Mr. Draper's extremely agreeable voice vibrated 
 with feeling. A look of pain came into his eyes. 
 
 "Yes, it was very rash and wicked," said his 
 friend. "It very nearly ruined you." 
 
 "I am not sure it hasn't." 
 
 "You need have no fear now. At this moment 
 you are stronger in the country than you have ever 
 been before." 
 
 "Oh, I know!" 
 
 Somehow her words seemed to touch a hidden 
 spring. With a sudden gesture the Minister covered 
 his face with his hands. A strange wave of emotion 
 seemed almost to overmaster him. 
 
 "Evelyn," he said in a tone which thrilled her, 
 "I am a lost soul in Hades." 
 
 "Poor fellow!" said his friend in a voice in which 
 sympathy and kindness were mingled. "I thought 
 you had finally put all that behind you."
 
 i 4 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "No, upon my soul, I can't." 
 
 Evelyn placed his hand gently in hers, as if she 
 must soothe his pain. 
 
 "Yes," she said, "I suppose it is only natural that 
 a true-blue democrat should bleed when he begins 
 to have his doubts of democracy." 
 
 "Yes, it's something to abjure the faith in which 
 you have been bred," said the Minister. "A man 
 doesn't like to kick away the stepping-stones by 
 which he has risen. But there seems to be no 
 alternative now." Suddenly he turned to confront 
 the fellow occupant of the sofa, tapping the palm 
 of his right hand with a finger of his left. "The 
 fact is, Evelyn, this Bill will give them ultimately 
 every card in the game." 
 
 "Do you really think so?" 
 
 "Yes, I do. Looking ahead, that is the real 
 meaning of Clause Nine. Of course it is very artfully 
 dissembled. But that is my deliberate opinion, and 
 I have made it quite clear to Grundy. 
 
 "And what says that prince of opportunists, the 
 Prime Minister?" 
 
 "He either won't see it or he can't one hesitates 
 to say which." 
 
 "Mr. Facing-both-ways, as usual." 
 
 "No, Evelyn, we must be fair. His task is 
 stupendously difficult." 
 
 "I have no patience with cowards."
 
 THE CRISIS 15 
 
 "No, you must be fair. Grundy has done better 
 than any other man could have done in his place. 
 But il a les defauts de ses qualites, that is all." 
 
 "Well, what are you going to do?" 
 
 A slow perspiration gathered upon the face of 
 the Minister. 
 
 "There is something right here," he said, clasping 
 his forehead, "that seems to tell me that the time 
 has come when we who love England must start to 
 back the engine." 
 
 "I am sure you are right." 
 
 "I believe in the people, I love the people, I have 
 bled for the people, I have gone to gaol for them, but 
 a still small voice persists in telling me that we 
 mustn't let this Bill go through." 
 
 "Yes," said Evelyn Rockingham in a lowered 
 tone, "no one can deny that you have fully earned 
 your title of the people's friend. And you have now 
 the opportunity of earning the still more comprehen- 
 sive title of your country's friend." 
 
 "They are all so blind," said the Minister. 
 "They can't see far enough." 
 
 "One can't expect a pack of placemen to look into 
 the future," said Evelyn Rockingham contemptu- 
 ously. 
 
 "Oh, we have good men. We have honest men. 
 They have done work for which the country ought 
 to be grateful. All honour to Grundy and sensible
 
 16 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 old George Bryant for keeping things going during 
 this last terrible year. You see, Evelyn, we are on 
 the verge of the chasm all the time." 
 
 "Yes, I know." 
 
 "I was with Grundy till two o'clock this morning. 
 And his parting words to me were, ' For God's sake, 
 Draper, don't undo us. If anything happens to this 
 Bill there is not a man of us who dare contemplate 
 the consequences.' ' 
 
 "He means there will be an end of his precious 
 Coalition?" 
 
 "Unfortunately, he means much more than that." 
 
 "Yes, I suppose he does." 
 
 "Both sides have played it up so high, you see, 
 that if the Coalition goes we have absolutely nothing 
 to put in its place." 
 
 "There is Evan Mauleverer!" 
 
 "The North wouldn't stand him for an hour. We 
 should have the Northumbrian miners sacking the 
 metropolis." 
 
 "It hasn't forgiven his fatuous Conscription Bill?" 
 
 "No; and it never will. The most colossal blunder 
 of modern times. It lies at the root of half our 
 troubles." 
 
 In one of his sudden accesses Mr. Draper covered 
 his face with his hands. 
 
 "One realizes, of course," said Evelyn Rockingham 
 while she watched the man's vivid emotion, "that
 
 THE CRISIS 17 
 
 the North is the clou of the whole thing. And that 
 reminds me that last evening out at dinner Evan 
 Mauleverer himself made a rather impressive remark. 
 He said that any man who had the North behind him 
 could drive a wedge through the three estates." 
 
 The words of the famous leader of the Right, 
 whose precision of phrase was admired as much as 
 his reactionary spirit was deplored by moderate 
 people, caused the president of the Board of Concilia- 
 tion to remove his hands from his rather drawn and 
 haggard face. 
 
 "My God, that's true!" he said. 
 
 "James Draper, those are words for you to re- 
 member." 
 
 "Don't tempt me," said the Minister. 
 
 "Let me remind you," said Evelyn, whose face 
 was now mobile and luminous with its own emotion, 
 "that it is the North that has put you where you 
 are." 
 
 "I know." 
 
 "If Evan Mauleverer is right, and I think he is, 
 you are the strongest man in the country to-day." 
 
 The Minister clenched his hands. 
 
 "Yes, perhaps," he said softly. "At least if it 
 were put to the test the only man I should fear 
 would be Galloway." 
 
 "Galloway?" 
 
 "Yes the infamous rapscallion."
 
 1 8 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "We won't talk of him. Let us try to realize 
 where you stand, my dear James, and what lies ahead 
 of you." 
 
 "No, no," said the Minister. "As I say, we are 
 on the verge. If the Coalition goes, everything is 
 darkness and eclipse." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham seized him by the arm. "No, 
 my dear James," she said, speaking with decision 
 and intensity. "England looks to you for more than 
 that. You are the strongest man in the country 
 and you are the straightest man in politics in 
 spite of all that the Right has to say of you. If 
 this Conciliation Bill is not an honest measure, and 
 is going to give the Left every card in the game, it 
 seems to me that there is only one thing for such a 
 man as you to do." 
 
 "Which at the moment is to ring for a whisky 
 and soda," said the Minister, in a rather dry voice.
 
 Ill 
 
 WHEN this refreshment had been brought Mr. 
 Draper became very thoughtful, while his 
 companion kept her eyes fixed upon his face. 
 
 " It all turns upon my position in the country," he 
 said at last. " Have I the weight, my dear Evelyn, 
 the strength, the authority?" 
 
 "To form your own administration and carry on 
 the Government if you wreck the Coalition?" 
 
 "Yes, it amounts to that. If I am not, or if the 
 country loses its head and allows Evan Mauleverer to 
 ride me off and he will try all he knows to do that 
 it will mean the end of England as we know it." 
 
 "He either fears his fate too much ' Evelyn 
 
 quoted. 
 
 "Yes, I know but they would be taking the 
 tumbrils down Piccadilly. You see, Evan Maulev- 
 erer has endangered the monarchy with his tomfool 
 tricks. There is always that lion in the gate. It's 
 an awful responsibility. Upon my soul, I don't 
 think any man ought to take the risk." 
 
 "You would have taken it three years ago 
 before you married Aline." 
 
 19
 
 20 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I shouldn't have wanted to take it then." 
 
 "No, you were then the friend of the people. We 
 expect you to be the friend of England now." 
 
 "What sort of a friend shall I be if I overthrow 
 the monarchy?" 
 
 "You must be the first president of our republic." 
 There was something in the manner in which the 
 words were spoken which brought him abruptly to 
 his feet. 
 
 Again the perspiration gathered on his forehead. 
 His face grew deadly white. 
 
 He began to pace the room. He was like a lion 
 in a cage. The brooding eyes, the mane of hair, 
 the massive jaw, the pervasive sense of power sug- 
 gested not inadequately the king of beasts. 
 
 Suddenly he stopped, took the occupant of the 
 sofa by the wrist, and peered with grim intensity 
 into the unflinching eyes. 
 
 "Look here, you sibyl," he said, "you shall 
 prophesy! What if we send these cravens pack- 
 ing?" 
 
 The woman on the sofa closed her eyes and laid 
 back her head among the cushions. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "A Cromwell will arise and put the key of the 
 House of Commons in his pocket." 
 
 "Phrases, madam!" 
 
 "Have I ever misled you?"
 
 THE CRISIS 21 
 
 "Never. Without reservation I say that. But 
 I ask for more light." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham sat up and flicked the ash 
 from her cigarette. 
 
 "If you only had imagination! But you have, 
 of course, else you would not have got so far in so 
 short a time. Use your imagination, my friend I" 
 
 "I have not enough imagination to see myself a 
 Cromwell, if that is what you mean." 
 
 "Then I must supply you with some of mine." 
 The syllables were soft, delicate, deliberate. The 
 sound of them was also sibilant, almost like the 
 drawing of a sword. 
 
 The Minister breathed heavily. 
 
 "If one could only see a little further," he said. 
 
 "Yes, the little more! But at least you are aware 
 that the three parties fear James Draper like the 
 plague?" 
 
 "No, I was not aware of it," said the Minister. 
 "At least not quite so specifically. That is," he went 
 on rounding, clarifying, developing his thought, 
 "they may have to fear him if they decline to play 
 the game." 
 
 "Have they played it? are they playing it?" 
 
 "Perhaps not the game, the whole game, and 
 nothing but the game but then who does play 
 that?" 
 
 "James Draper."
 
 22 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Again Mr. Draper stayed his course. He looked 
 his companion full in the eyes. The accomplished 
 woman of the world sustained the whole force of 
 his gaze without a tremor. The cool and smiling 
 candour seemed to pierce him. 
 
 He swooped down upon her and bore her hand to 
 his lips. 
 
 "Thank you," he said, "thank you!" 
 
 She remained sphinxlike, immovable. Her eyes 
 were veiled with an almost imperceptible laughter. 
 
 "You have only to walk into the Opposition 
 lobby on Tuesday night to bring down the whole 
 house of cards." 
 
 "Better a house of cards than no house at all." 
 
 "Why not regard it as a preliminary clearance of 
 the ground for a little house-building of your own? " 
 
 "Castle-building, more likely." 
 
 "Is it that even now you don't realize your 
 strength in the country?" 
 
 Again the Minister began to pace up and down the 
 room. Evelyn Rockingham watched his every 
 movement with an intentness that was a little 
 cruel. 
 
 "And if I do!" he said, again facing her abruptly. 
 41 Don't you see that we are on the verge? Assuming 
 that I fire them out on Tuesday night, don't you see 
 that one slight miscalculation might send those 
 tumbrils down Piccadilly?"
 
 THE CRISIS 23 
 
 ''Oh, yes, but for the grace of God working through 
 James Draper." 
 
 The Minister had the look of a man tormented by 
 a thousands imps. 
 
 "Oh, I know you are right!" he cried. "These 
 muddlers timid sophists one-step-at-a-time 
 
 look-before-you-leap bah ! ' Short, rough, 
 
 crackling, half-coherent sentences were flung out 
 of this volcano at intervals. "They can't see far 
 enough. They can't grasp the meaning of it all." 
 
 He took her by the wrist. 
 
 "Evelyn," he said imperiously, "tell me what has 
 put the idea of Cromwell into that wise and clever 
 head?" 
 
 "Events, circumstances. Circumstances, events." 
 
 "You have every means, of course, of knowing 
 the play of forces." 
 
 "You must continue to trust me, James." 
 
 "Oh, I trust you. I shall always trust you. 
 Whatever happens I shall trust you always." 
 
 There was a directness and a simplicity about the 
 words that brought the colour slowly to her face. 
 
 "Then if I hail you as a Cromwell, I ask you to 
 believe me a Cromwell who shall deliver my 
 unhappy country lest a worse fate befall." 
 
 The voice of the sibyl was musical, deep, and dom- 
 inant. With a gesture, almost of anguish, which he 
 made no attempt to conceal, the man sank slowly
 
 24 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 to his knees before her and buried his face in her lap. 
 It was the colour of death. 
 
 "Pray for me!" he said in a broken tone. 
 
 "I pray for you continually. The man and the 
 the hour the hour and the man, my prince." 
 
 She kissed the bowed head gravely. Issuing slowly 
 from her cushions she rose to her feet. Tall and 
 splendid she looked in her black gown, a daughter 
 of a noble race. There was a fine strength about her 
 that was strangely impressive. 
 
 "On Tuesday you must fire them out. I shall be 
 there behind the grille in my best hat!" 
 
 The man had the look of one who is being driven 
 beyond his limit. 
 
 "You are absolutely right," he said, and the words 
 seemed to tear him. " I see it all now. I see where 
 my duty lies. But who am I that I should apply the 
 match which may blow up the country." 
 
 "There will be no explosion, my friend, if you keep 
 your nerve. On the contrary, you are the only man 
 who can save the country now." 
 
 The Minister stood rigid, with head upflung, like 
 a stag of ten. 
 
 "Yes, my God you have spoken the truth!" 
 
 He wiped the sweat from his face.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE DUCHESS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HONOUR- 
 ABLE MRS. GEORGE GLEN-MAITLAND, SEC- 
 RETARY OF THE WOMAN'S LEAGUE 
 
 DEAR LAURA: I scribble this at 2 A.M. in 
 a very excited state. Sleep is out of the 
 question, so, as usual, my dear, I sit down to bore you 
 in the hope of calming weak feminine nerves in the 
 process. Why were we born women, you and I? I 
 more particularly. I am wretchedly overwrought, 
 the result of a three hours' tete-a-tete with that 
 amazing man. 
 
 He is now keyed up to the pitch of throwing out 
 this infamous Coalition on Tuesday night. God 
 grant that he is right! God grant that his vision 
 be just and true! He has had the perception to 
 realize that if Clause Nine of the Bill goes through it 
 is the last straw as far as we are concerned, and that 
 it is the end, politically, of the classes who have a 
 tradition to conserve. 
 
 What an irony it is that this man of all people, 
 the red republican, the intellectual rawhead and 
 bloodybones of a few short years ago, should now be 
 
 25
 
 26 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 ready to risk everything to save us from extinction. 
 It may mean political suicide for him; for the country 
 it may mean civil war the air is heavy with rumours 
 - but if he keeps his nerve I think he will be able 
 to point a course for this crazy ship of state. 
 
 When one comes to think of it, it is a wonderful 
 career. It seems only yesterday that he made his 
 first failure in the House of Commons. I shall 
 never forget his coming to me that evening. He was 
 an utterly broken man. And I remember I com- 
 forted him with the words of Dizzy, "The time will 
 come when they will hear you." And he burst into 
 tears and wept like a child. 
 
 Well, the time has come now with a vengeance. 
 He is the strongest man in the country. Of course, 
 he has many perils to face. There is an odious cabal 
 against him, and one is afraid he is too simple to 
 suspect it. At least he has an air of supreme uncon- 
 sciousness. 
 
 Last night, at a party, an amusing thing happened. 
 A. cut me deliberately, in the most open way. I 
 felt like boxing the ears of the little spitfire; it was 
 such a fine exhibition of the Carlow insolence. The 
 little fool is frantically jealous, and the tragedy is, 
 my dear, that Mr. D. is still very much in love 
 with her. 
 
 It is a quaint, mad world. To think of such a man 
 marrying A.; to think of such a woman as myself
 
 THE CRISIS 27 
 
 having married Robert. How I hate and despise 
 that parcel of vanities, yet I continue to eat his salt 
 and to sustain him in his degree. 
 
 This odious cabal, a survival of Victorian England 
 at its worst, suits his Grace's book pretty well. You 
 know how mischievous he can be; and like the nar- 
 row, sterile, over-civilized bigot, which at heart he is, 
 he simply loathes "the Haberdasher," as the Bloods 
 call him. The cynical wretch goes about telling 
 everybody that he and I lead a cat and dog life 
 because it amuses us; and to keep the ball rolling, my 
 wicked husband flirts with A. in the most shameless 
 manner, and stuffs her head with all sorts of non- 
 sense about Mr. D. and myself. 
 
 Of course I worship the man. But we are no more 
 than friends. He has all the uneasy, ill-timed scru- 
 pulousness of the bourgeoisie. And yet one cannot 
 help admiring it, even if it is a little inhuman at 
 times. But it only makes this cabal more devilish. 
 Robert, of course, is bent on his ruin. He makes no 
 secret of that. He keeps prodding up the Pecksniffs 
 in the most masterly manner. I saw him coming 
 out of Brooks's yesterday, hanging on the arm of 
 St. John Becher, the " pi " editor. I could tell by 
 the look on his face that he despises the breed as 
 much as he despises all things under the sun, but 
 that it seemed good to the king to amuse himself. 
 
 I wish Robert no harm, but one of these days he
 
 28 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 deserves to be severely punished for his levity. 
 Rome is burning, and Robert and his faction saunter 
 out of the Turf, and White's and the Travellers, like 
 a parcel of overdressed bookmakers, backbiting and 
 criticising and weaving their miserable plots. What 
 have they ever done for the country, one would like 
 to know, that they should give themselves such airs 
 at the expense of their betters? 
 
 To be in politics, nowadays, they say you must 
 belong to the Right, because the Right are sportsmen 
 first and politicans afterward. That is the kind of 
 cant which has brought the whole country to the 
 verge of ruin. Evan Mauleverer has packed his 
 front bench with amateurs like himself; the horny- 
 handed "pros" on the Left score every point that 
 they want to score; and the Centre, the real brains 
 and backbone of the nation, finds it impossible to 
 carry on the business of the state. 
 
 We live in parlous times, my dear. If the Coali- 
 tion goes, as it certainly will on Tuesday evening, 
 there is absolutely nothing to put in its place, unless 
 Draper is strong enough to force the hands of his 
 enemies and form a government. I think he is; 
 otherwise I would not have urged him to put his 
 fortune to the proof. But to quote his own phrase, 
 "The slightest miscalculation might send the tum- 
 brils down Piccadilly." 
 
 Yes, my dear, the hour and the man are here. The
 
 THE CRISIS 29 
 
 time has come to "back the engine" another of his 
 phrases unless we are tamely to consent to being 
 uprooted by an insolent and overweening proletariat. 
 Clause Nine will make it impregnable; and our 
 noble Roman, who entered public life on the ex- 
 treme Left, less than fifteen years ago, has had the 
 wit to see it, and he is going to have the courage and 
 the honesty to act on his knowledge. 
 
 Robert and his faction hate him upon instinct. 
 His early indiscretions, the fruit of an imperfect 
 education, are still remembered; and of course his 
 shockingly imprudent marriage, his one real blunder, 
 will never be forgiven. But this is a bid for their 
 friendship. If they have the sense to rise to an 
 appreciation of the man's real value, so much the 
 better for them; if they continue to let their prej- 
 udices override their judgment, so much the worse 
 for the country. Some one will have to carry on the 
 King's Government. Of course the Bloods will try 
 to run Evan Mauleverer, but even they must 
 realize that the game is up. There is the monarchy 
 to consider after that last terrible fiasco. 
 
 No, my dear, as far as one can see at present, it is 
 Draper or none. It is possible that one overrates 
 him, but he is a splendid creature. He has developed 
 at an amazing rate and now he hardly bears any 
 traces of his origin. He is a Whig, modernized and 
 brought up to date, with all the latest improvements,
 
 30 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 and a noble genius added. Moreover, he is implicitly 
 to be trusted. He says what he means and he means 
 what he says. I suppose that is the secret of his 
 power. Evan Mauleverer, with his usual affecta- 
 tion of depth, says the man is too transparent to 
 be other than negligible. Certainly he is honest 
 to a fault, but then, as I told him, the country 
 may be in a mood to welcome a new kind of 
 malaise. 
 
 Tuesday evening looms before me as I write in a 
 kind of red haze. The deed is so momentous. Will 
 it mean chaos ? Perhaps who knows ? Or shall we 
 live to see his statue erected at the bottom of St. 
 James's Street? At any rate the die is cast. I pray 
 God that He may arm our champion! 
 
 I shall be there to hear him "put the Government 
 to sleep." I find myself continually using his 
 phrases, as I dare say you have noticed. It will 
 be an emotional treat at any rate. He is the great- 
 est orator since Bright, and cast in a mould still 
 ampler than that man of genius. With the Chamber 
 in its present state of decomposition he is bound 
 to overthrow it. The groundlings 75 per cent. 
 of the godless Coalition will be carried off their 
 feet. 
 
 My prediction is that a week from to-night the 
 King's Government will be carried on by no, I dare 
 not prophesy!
 
 THE CRISIS 31 
 
 Good-night, my dear. Forgive all this. I am 
 miserably overwrought. 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE JAMES DRAPER, 200. QUEEN 
 ANNE'S GATE, TO MRS. ELIZABETH DRAPER, 
 5 BEACONFIELD VILLAS, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. 
 
 MY DEAR MOTHER : I am writing to you my weekly 
 letter on the eve of a great crisis, certainly in my own 
 life, and, as I believe, in the life of the nation. I have 
 decided to take a very hazardous step, and by the 
 time this reaches you, you will be able read what has 
 happened and be in a position to draw inferences of 
 your own. 
 
 The step I contemplate is bound to have very 
 grave and far-reaching consequences. Indeed it is 
 only after the profoundest searchings of heart that I 
 have decided to embark upon it. There is no need 
 for me to rehearse the state of affairs in the country. 
 Substantially the situation is as it was a week ago, 
 except that there is a further perceptible weakening 
 in the Centre. 
 
 It may be that I am committing political suicide. 
 Should that be the case, although public life is very 
 dear to me, I am prepared to abide the issue, because 
 I am convinced that such an action, whatever may 
 be the immediate consequences springing out of it, 
 must result in the ultimate benefit of the country.
 
 32 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 As I wrote last week, the present state affairs is 
 hopeless. Grundy, with all his virtues, is not a 
 strong enough man to hold the Left, which is able 
 to bring enormous pressure to bear upon him. It 
 is my firm conviction that if this Bill goes through in 
 its present form we shall cease to be a free nation. 
 Don't shake your head at me, but there is no tyranny 
 like the tyranny of a half-educated democracy. It 
 has all the power now, and is putting it to unfair uses. 
 Grundy in his anxiety to carry on the Government is 
 unable to see that, but we who love England must 
 not be the slaves of expedience, nor must we ignore 
 the truth. I am a man of the people, my dear 
 mother. We have broken the back of more than 
 one tyranny; but now in the flush of our triumph we 
 must see that the pendulum does not swing too far. 
 Let no man blind himself to injustice. 
 
 Unless a trustworthy Pilot can be found, a plain 
 man good at need, as sure as fate we shall have the 
 ship on the rocks even if she is not on them 
 already. Plainly, I don't like the Bill. It won't 
 bear examination. Dress it up as they please, it is 
 not a just measure. Sincere its authors may be; 
 and on the surface the thing has the appearance of 
 an honourable compromise which by judicious stage 
 management may pose as a perfectly innocent 
 matter. But it means much more than that for 
 those who have eyes to see.
 
 THE CRISIS 33 
 
 No, it is an unprincipled measure, which can and 
 will be put presently to other uses than those for 
 which it is designed. Grundy cannot or will not see 
 it, but old George Byrant understands it well 
 enough. They say it means revolution if we tear it 
 up. Perhaps, but we of the faith must do battle 
 though the heavens fall. And after all, as I tell 
 them, the Bill itself is a mere attempt to postpone 
 the day of reckoning. 
 
 It will be a spring in the dark. Perhaps I am 
 undoing the work of years. Perhaps I am plunging 
 the country into indescribable chaos. But I must 
 take the risk. It will be vain to struggle when the 
 fetters are riveted. It may be that my position in 
 the country is not what I think it to be. But the 
 North is with me I feel that in my veins. I am 
 one of themselves; there is my Northumbrian burr 
 to prove it and as there is a God in heaven they 
 will rally when they hear it calling them. God 
 bless them! 
 
 There is no hope of help from the Right. They are 
 blind with self-love. They "have no use for the 
 Haberdasher," these superfine, lily-white gentlemen. 
 Well, we shall see. Time brings some queer revenges. 
 Meanwhile Evan Mauleverer has misread all the 
 signals, as usual. He is bound to make a bid for 
 office. Elegant, insolent trifler! Vain fool posing 
 as the saviour of his country!
 
 34 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 I am going for "the knock-out." The master- 
 secret in fighting is to strike once, but in the right 
 place. This evening I must use every ounce I 
 possess. Somehow I seem very confident now the 
 time is so near. My duty is clear and God has 
 given me wonderful strength. If I get home I shall 
 put the Government to sleep; if I don't, all parties 
 will conspire to rule me out of the ring forever. 
 
 I have been the best hated man in the country 
 these twelve months past. They say I am too 
 ambitious. They say my growing power is con- 
 trary to the public interest. Well, we shall see. 
 They only let me into their precious Government 
 out of sheer cowardice; and they are not able to keep 
 me in it now they have got me there. Considered 
 as individuals there are good men and true among 
 them, but in their corporate capacity they are arrant 
 cowards. Perhaps this trumpet-call will rally the 
 true men of all creeds to the standard. 
 
 If it be the will of God that the strength is 
 vouchsafed to James Draper to point a course for 
 the old ship, so be it. ... God works in a mys- 
 terious way His wonders to perform. Say a little 
 prayer for me, my dear mother! 
 
 P.S. I have not the time, nor am I in the mood, 
 for domesticities. Aline is spending the week-end 
 in the country with her aristocratic friends. I
 
 THE CRISIS 35 
 
 haven't much use for them and they, you may be 
 sure, are not overfond of "the Haberdasher." Well, 
 I suppose it is only natural that they should distrust 
 me. All the same, I am convinced they do A. no 
 good. Still, she is one of themselves, and it is hardly 
 fair to expect a charming she-leopard to change her 
 spots all at once. Perhaps my marriage was a mis- 
 take, but it was a delicious folly of which I don't 
 intend to repent. These barbarians have something 
 that makes them fascinating, irresistible. You know 
 you are charmed with A. yourself, although you 
 shake your wise head over her.
 
 MR. DRAPER'S interview with the Duchess of 
 Rockingham had taken place late on the 
 evening of Saturday. On the morning of the Wed- 
 nesday following he was seated about twelve o'clock 
 in the small and cosy study of his official residence. 
 The appearance he presented was the reverse of 
 elegant. There was rather more than twenty-four 
 hours* growth of beard upon his chin. A white silk 
 handkerchief did duty for a collar; a somewhat 
 dilapidated dressing-gown fulfilled the functions of a 
 coat, and in lieu of the stout and comfortable-looking 
 boots, which were already rather famous, he wore 
 a pair of carpet slippers. 
 
 On a small table, near the fire, a tray was set. It 
 contained a teapot, a liberal supply of toast, and 
 three boiled eggs. The Planet newspaper was 
 propped against the teapot. With an adroitness 
 that must have been the fruit of long practice, Mr. 
 Draper ministered impartially to the needs of the 
 mind and the needs of the body. 
 
 Line by line he read his speech of the previous 
 night. The report of it in the famous journal was a 
 
 36
 
 THE CRISIS 37 
 
 miracle of accuracy and completeness. Every sen- 
 tence was there in its integrity, as the speaker had 
 delivered it. Almost every comma was in place. 
 The orator could almost catch the subtle inflections 
 of his own voice as he used the magical words. Para- 
 graph by paragraph as he read, he nodded his head 
 in a kind of rapturous unison. 
 
 Yes, it was a wonderful piece of reporting. It was 
 a wonderful speech. The clear, simple, spontaneous 
 Saxon English, as lucid as a crystal; the flashes of 
 luminous imagery that had fused the minds of his 
 hearers; the air of high sincerity; the masculine force 
 of reasoning and the deep note of conviction which 
 had given it such an irresistible momentum, all were 
 here. 
 
 There came a point halfway down the second 
 column where the Minister forgot all about his 
 breakfast. His mind began to race ahead. He 
 was reading now in a kind of entrancement with his 
 brain on fire. Now he was the aesthete listening with 
 a sense of emotional luxury to a symphony of ex- 
 quisite music; now he was the acute and clear-sighted 
 thinker, almost painfully conscious of the special 
 conditions that had called it forth. 
 
 Suddenly he rose from the table. His sombre 
 eyes were blazing out of a deeply lined face. Some- 
 thing seemed to have turned his veins to molten fire. 
 
 "Oh, my God!" he cried to his peers all around
 
 38 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 him, the crowded shelves of his study, "Oh, my God, 
 what a power you have given me!" 
 
 Demosthenes, Cicero, Burke, Bright,and Gladstone 
 were with him in the room. He trembled violently. 
 He was almost overpowered by a desire to pray. 
 
 The words of the sibyl flamed across his brain: 
 "You are the only man now who can save the 
 country." 
 
 The remainder of his breakfast was forgotten. He 
 turned to another page of the Planet to read the 
 leading article upon his speech. He hardly expected 
 it to interest him. The art of the party journalist 
 always left him cold. He knew the source to be 
 tainted; his instinct told him that here would be 
 criticism of the man, not an appreciation of his 
 motives. 
 
 Yes, the great newspaper was marshalling its 
 barbs. A look of. pity came into his face. But, 
 steeled as he was, somehow this morning this obtuse 
 partisanship was like a knife between his ribs. At 
 such a moment in the life of the nation it was very 
 ill done. 
 
 Curiosity, however, enabled him to read on. Very 
 soon there began to emerge from the welter of 
 partisan spleen a genuine note of alarm: 
 
 "By this foul stroke, the President of the Board 
 of Conciliation, who of all men should have held his
 
 THE CRISIS 39 
 
 hand in this acute national crisis, has undone with a 
 single blow the work to which the three great parties 
 in the realm have so painfully and so precariously 
 addressed themselves during the last twelve months. 
 It is the work of an incendiary; the work of one who 
 sets an ignoble personal ambition before the claims 
 of his Sovereign and the love of his country. At such 
 a moment as this, every sane and responsible English- 
 man, acquainted with the true facts of the situation, 
 will view with nothing short of horror the downfall of 
 the Coalition Government whose doom was pro- 
 nounced last night in the House of Commons by the 
 man of all others who, by the nature of his office, was 
 pledged to uphold it. It is never the part of good 
 citizenship to yield to panic, but we are forced to 
 affirm that by his wicked and immoral action the 
 President of the Board of Conciliation has plunged 
 his country into the gravest internal crisis since that 
 which overwhelmed it on the fourth of January, 
 1642." 
 
 The source was polluted; but for once the cry of 
 " Wolf ! " was sincere. The Planet had cried " Wolf " 
 so often and so loudly that impartial minds, for all 
 the prestige to which it was justly entitled, no longer 
 heeded its voice. But the note of fear was unmis- 
 takably genuine this morning.
 
 VI 
 
 THERE came a peremptory knock on the door. 
 A tall woman enveloped in a sealskin coat 
 entered the study. It was Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "Don't blame Nicholson," she said. "He did 
 his best, but he couldn't keep me out." 
 
 With a powerful effort of the will the Minister 
 came back into the world of affairs. He set a chair 
 for his visitor. 
 
 "You'll be losing a good servant his place," he 
 said. 
 
 The duchess laughed. Her humorous eyes had 
 already traversed the unrazored chin, the scarf, the 
 dressing-gown and the carpet slippers. 
 
 "I think he deserves to lose it," she said. 
 
 "Poor fellow if you knew his sufferings!" 
 
 "Why does he stay?" 
 
 "Personal magnetism, I suppose. He believes 
 in me. He was there last night." 
 
 Evelyn nodded, suddenly grave. 
 
 " Is the door closed ? " She looked round. "There 
 is no possibility of our being overheard?" 
 
 "None." 
 
 40
 
 THE CRISIS 41 
 
 "James Draper," she said, "no matter what hap- 
 pens now, you must keep your head. If you don't, 
 God help us all." 
 
 The face of the Minister was haggard. 
 
 "There is quite a pleasant little family party at 
 the Palace this morning," said the duchess. 
 
 "Yes, I expect so." 
 
 "Mr. Grundy was there by nine o'clock. Evan 
 Mauleverer was sent for at ten. Daventry was 
 sent for at a quarter-past, and even our poor, dear 
 Robert had to dress in a desperate hurry before 
 eleven." 
 
 "Poor Robert!" said the Minister. "Called into 
 the councils of the nation at such an ungodly 
 hour." 
 
 "Yes, it's an unjust world. All those nincompoops 
 as blameless as the babe unborn; and here is the 
 author of the mischief lingering in dressing-gown and 
 slippers over his breakfast at twenty minutes past 
 twelve by the clock. By which token I presume you 
 have not yet been summoned to the councils of the 
 nation." 
 
 "Oh, no, it's much too early. Things will have 
 to be pretty hopeless before that happens." 
 
 "Yes, I suppose. Yet that time is very near. By 
 the way, I see you have the Planet there." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "A pitiful exhibition!"
 
 42 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Yes, rather pitiful." The face of the Minister 
 grew suddenly sad. " If only it would learn to play 
 fair politically, what a power it might be!" 
 
 "One can never understand why it doesn't." 
 
 "Bred in a bad old tradition. Yet it tries so hard 
 to be honest in everything else." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham shrugged her shoulders a 
 little contemptuously. 
 
 "I don't think women have much cause to revere 
 it. Give me a cigarette to purify the atmosphere." 
 
 The bell was rung and cigarettes were sent for. 
 
 "When are you going to try one?" 
 
 "I shall have to try something to stop the pres- 
 sure," said Mr. Draper in a hollow tone. "I 
 haven't closed my eyes for four nights." 
 
 " Poor fellow ! You must really begin. Try this." 
 
 She chose a cigarette from the box that had been 
 brought, placed it between his lips and gravely lit 
 it for him. 
 
 "Take it gently at first. It ought to do you good." 
 Suddenly she knitted her brows. "I wonder," she 
 said, "if the collective wisdom of that precious 
 crew will rise to the only possible solution?" 
 
 "What is the only possible solution?" 
 
 "Do you honestly mean you don't know?" 
 
 "Oh, I think I know; it is merely that I crave 
 confirmation of my own prescience." 
 
 "Evan Mauleverer is the man who frightens me."
 
 THE CRISIS 43 
 
 "Surely he must realize that all the signals are 
 set dead against him." 
 
 "He realizes nothing beyond the fact that one 
 Evan Mauleverer has a morbid craving for office. 
 We were boy and girl together; I know the nature 
 of the animal; he had always to be the cock of every 
 walk." 
 
 "The Right in its furious valour will spur him on, 
 of course, but unless the man is a fool he must know 
 what there is against him." 
 
 "He is so arrogant; and he has always surrounded 
 himself with inferior people. I hope there is one 
 among that precious conclave who can read the 
 writing on the wall." 
 
 " Well, we ought to know very soon now." 
 
 Mr. Draper looked at his watch. 
 
 "Perhaps we can find out now," said Evelyn 
 Rockingham. "Ask Mr. Renshaw to telephone to 
 Number 10." 
 
 "It will be more dignified to wait," said the 
 Minister, rebuking this feminine impatience with a 
 gentle show of indifference. 
 
 "You have such a force of will," she said. "You 
 have a force of will so much greater than any one I 
 have ever met. Oh, I hope these fools will realize 
 it!" Her voice broke a little queerly. 
 
 "We none of us know what we have," said Mr. 
 Draper, "until we are brought to the test. Evelyn"
 
 44 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 he lifted his sombre eyes half-deprecatingly, and 
 she coloured a little at the curious note of intimacy 
 "Evelyn, I am going to make you a little confes- 
 sion. I almost wish now at this moment that 
 I was a little nearer to my God." 
 
 "Yes, I understand. But I've always thought it 
 was only we weak women who felt that sort of need.'' 
 
 "There is the woman in all of us," said Mr. Draper. 
 "And she is never quite strong enough, poor soul. 
 Cromwell was always very close to his God. It 
 must have given him a great pull, I think." 
 
 As he spoke he pointed to a small cast in plaster 
 of the Lord Protector which adorned the chimney- 
 piece. 
 
 "Forgive my asking the question, but are you on 
 terms with your own God?" 
 
 "I have not lost the habit of addressing Him on 
 occasion." 
 
 "Then if you don't mind" the Minister spoke 
 quite humbly and a little shyly "I want you, in 
 your capacity of a friend to whom I owe a very 
 great deal, always to say a special little prayer for 
 James Draper." 
 
 As he spoke he collected the scattered sheets of 
 the Planet, placed them together and folded the 
 paper neatly. He had hardly done this when his 
 wife came into the room. 
 
 Lady Aline Draper was a slight, petite, charm-
 
 THE CRISIS 45 
 
 ingly dainty woman, ten years younger than her 
 husband. She had at that moment returned from 
 a week-end in the country. 
 
 On the threshold of the room she suffered an 
 instant of embarrassment. 
 
 "How are you, Aline?" said Evelyn Rockingham, 
 going forward to meet her. 
 
 Lady Aline 's self-possession was equal to the mo- 
 ment, but the rather childish face turned the colour 
 of snow. 
 
 "How are you, Aline?" said Evelyn with marked 
 kindness. 
 
 They shook hands. 
 
 The Minister kissed his wife affectionately. 
 
 "Forgive my rags, darling," he said simply 
 enough. "Somehow I had got it into my head that 
 you would come back by the afternoon train." 
 
 Lady Aline had now flushed rather vividly. She 
 bit her lip. Evelyn Rockingham was not proof 
 against a little stealthy, slightly malicious amusement. 
 
 "It's not his fault," she laughed. "Poor Nichol- 
 son couldn't keep me out. I said, 'It's no use, 
 Nicholson, I know where to find him'; and I marched 
 right in here. And there was the wrecker of minis- 
 tries in what he is pleased to call his dressing-gown 
 you must really buy him a new one, my dear, and 
 insist on his wearing it struggling with the Planet 
 and recalcitrant egg-shells."
 
 46 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 This speech, carelessly genial and with perhaps an 
 undercurrent of malice, did nothing to lessen the 
 flush in the cheeks of Lady Aline. She made no 
 immediate response beyond the rather lame and 
 conventional rejoinder that she was sorry to disturb 
 them. 
 
 "I hope you have read the speech," said Evelyn 
 Rockingham. 
 
 "Yes, some of it." 
 
 "Some of it?" 
 
 "It was so long." 
 
 "So long?" 
 
 The two women looked at one another steadily. 
 Their eyes had narrowed till they shone like 
 rapiers. 
 
 "Yes, so long," said Lady Aline upon a note of 
 defiance. 
 
 "I was there," said Evelyn, "in the House. I 
 heard every word. I have read every word since. 
 I can repeat passages by heart." 
 
 "Really!" The tone was cold and biting. 
 
 Evelyn flushed now. Her fine face was alive 
 with emotion. 
 
 "It was a very wonderful speech," she said in a 
 falling voice. 
 
 "I thought it read like a rather dangerous speech," 
 said Lady Aline, with her eyes upon the other's face. 
 "I hope it won't turn out the Government."
 
 THE CRISIS 47 
 
 "It has turned out the Government." 
 
 The face of the Minster's wife was frankly in- 
 credulous. The Minister himself stood at his ease, 
 his hands in his pockets and his back to the fire. 
 
 "Jim!" said his wife, the picture of consternation. 
 
 Mr. Draper smiled at her with a genuine tender- 
 ness in his eyes. 
 
 "Poor darling!" he said. "Go and get some 
 lunch." 
 
 The slight figure stood the picture of dismay. 
 
 "Jim, what have you done? " she said. "That is 
 the meaning of that dreadful article in the Planet. 
 They say you have destroyed everything." 
 
 "One man cannot destroy everything, my dear 
 child," said the Minister. 
 
 "But the Coalition! As long as that held there 
 was a hope of keeping things together, wasn't there ? 
 Oh, Jim! what have you done?" Suddenly the 
 daughter of the feudal aristocracy, to whom the 
 security of the existing order meant so much, began 
 to expound the dire truth as it was flashed across her 
 mind. "Oh, it's madness, madness. If you have 
 turned out the Coalition you have ruined your party, 
 you have ruined your country, you have ruined 
 yourself." 
 
 "O ye of little faith!" said Evelyn softly. 
 
 The other woman, for all her childish air, gathered 
 herself with a gesture of fierce disdain. She almost
 
 48 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 bit her lip through in the vain attempt to repress the 
 tempest that was raging within. The struggle left 
 her white and trembling, but silent. 
 
 "Aline," said the Minister in a singularly gentle 
 voice, which yet was full of pain, "I don't think you 
 quite understand what lies behind all this. Pay no 
 attention to the newspapers. Things are not always 
 what they seem." 
 
 But Lady Aline was not listening to the words of 
 her husband. She was looking at the rather mocking 
 face of her rival. 
 
 "You wicked woman!" The words were chosen 
 deliberately. "It was you who set him on to this. 
 I see everything. You think if he overturns the 
 monarchy it may help your miserable Woman's 
 League. But it won't. Where will any of us be if 
 we have a revolution? You wicked woman, to try 
 to ruin the country. Evelyn, if there is a God in 
 heaven I hope He will punish you." 
 
 In the manner of a small whirlwind Lady Aline 
 withdrew from the room.
 
 VII 
 
 MR. DRAPER and Evelyn Rockingham were 
 left gazing at one another rather blankly. 
 
 "Poor child!" said Lady Aline's husband. There 
 was something odd in his voice. 
 
 "She can't understand, poor child," said Evelyn 
 Rockingham. "They are all alike, the Carlows. 
 They have such limitations. Up to a point they are 
 splendid. Beyond that point they are pathetic, 
 tragic, hopeless." 
 
 "Yes, she is past her limit." Not only the voice 
 but the face of the Minister was full of pain. "She 
 can't understand. She doesn't know where we are, 
 my dear Evelyn, you and I; she doesn't know in 
 what relation we stand toward the civic liberties 
 of our country." 
 
 With a gesture of homage the Minister bore her 
 hand to his lips. 
 
 "That is how I think of you," he said. "I think 
 of you as the first woman of your time." 
 
 The perfect simplicity of the action rendered 
 Evelyn silent. There was something childlike in 
 his trust of her and it made her wince. 
 
 49
 
 50 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I hope you will never be undeceived," she said, 
 half involuntarily. 
 
 "How can I be?" 
 
 His sombre eyes sank into hers. 
 
 " I only ask you not to raise the pedestal too high," 
 she said. "Mortal men, you know, mortal men, as 
 Falstaff said and more than mortal women." 
 
 The door opened. "May I come in?" 
 
 A handsome, acute-looking, lawyer-like man about 
 thirty entered carrying his hat and wearing an over- 
 coat. 
 
 "Oh, it's you, Renshaw, is it? What are the tidings 
 from Number 10?" 
 
 "A hopeless muddle, I'm afraid, sir," said the 
 private secretary. "They all seem to have lost their 
 heads. Nobody is willing to assume responsibility 
 for anything. Mr. Grundy resigned at a quarter- 
 past nine, and Mr. Mauleverer cannot be persuaded 
 to accept office." 
 
 "What is the source of your information, Mr. 
 Renshaw?" said Evelyn Rockingham. "It is not 
 like Evan Mauleverer to be so modest." 
 
 "Sir John Hooper has just come from the Palace. 
 He says the Centre has put in such a strong 
 requisition that Mr. Mauleverer has asked the 
 King to allow him to postpone his decision until 
 to-morrow." 
 
 "Let us hope to-morrow will continue to bring
 
 THE CRISIS 51 
 
 wisdom, Mr. Renshaw, even to Evan Mauleverer," 
 said Evelyn Rockingham, "although personally I 
 take leave to doubt it." 
 
 "Things are in a hopeless muddle at Number 10 
 in the meantime," said the private secretary. "The 
 Chief Constable of Manchester has telephoned for 
 six battalions of the line and three companies of 
 artillery to guard the permanent way, but Sir George 
 has declined to undertake the responsibility, and 
 no one seems to know what to do in the circum- 
 stances." 
 
 "Asses!" said the ex-president of the Board of 
 Conciliation. "Why don't they go to the King. 
 The old sentimental humbug, I suppose, of safe- 
 guarding the popularity of the Throne, which has 
 done as much as anything to put us where we are. 
 What's a King for, if in the last resort he can't take 
 upon himself to defend the lives and uphold the 
 liberties of his subjects." The Minister strode up 
 and down the room. "Tell me, Renshaw, what are 
 they going to do?" 
 
 "I'm afraid nothing will be done, sir, until after 
 the meeting of the Privy Council, which is called 
 for to-morrow morning at ten o'clock." 
 
 "Monstrous! By that time the whole service of 
 the country may be dislocated." 
 
 Mr. Draper continued to stride up and down the 
 room.
 
 52 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Do you really mean to say they are going to do 
 nothing?" 
 
 " I am afraid that is their intention, sir. I under- 
 stand that Mr. Grundy has consulted Professor Pery 
 on the point of constitutional law involved, and on 
 his advice action will be deferred until the Privy 
 Council has met to-morrow." 
 
 "Oh, my God, it's like a comic opera," groaned 
 the Minister. "Isn't anybody going to take the 
 thing in hand. There isn't a moment to lose." 
 
 "Now that the Government is out, sir, they don't 
 seem to know quite where they are, or what they 
 should do. They all seem to be waiting for some- 
 body else to move." 
 
 "It's so like them," said Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "I think I had better go and see the King myself," 
 said Mr. Draper. 
 
 "Yes, do," said Evelyn. 
 
 "I will. And I hope he'll excuse my chin."
 
 VIII 
 
 I HAVE invited myself to lunch. " 
 Lady Aline, seated alone at the table in the 
 large and gloomy dining-room, rose to greet an 
 impressive-looking personage who had been an- 
 nounced. He was a fine-looking man, verging upon 
 fifty. In his black satin cravat was a very brilliant 
 diamond, and he wore a decidedly fanciful frock-coat. 
 
 "I am so glad to see you," she said. There was 
 a cordiality in her manner which showed they were 
 great friends. "It was very disappointing you were 
 not at Cloudesley. " 
 
 "Yes, my dear Aline, very disappointing. But 
 we are rather making history, you know, just at 
 present." 
 
 Robert Conway, seventh duke of Rockingham, 
 was a man to whom his country should have been 
 able to turn with confidence in its hour of need. 
 He came of a race of statesmen, he was a highly 
 educated man of the world, he was familiar with 
 the art of government in its most specialized and 
 intricate phases. At more than one European court 
 he was a popular and familiar figure; he had an 
 
 53
 
 54 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 extraordinary personal charm when he cared to exert 
 it; and had it pleased Providence to call him to a 
 humbler sphere, where an honourable ambition 
 might have seemed not unbecoming, he had many of 
 the gifts which would have enabled him to go far. 
 Had he chosen to cultivate his garden he might have 
 rendered signal service to the country. Unfortu- 
 nately, life had always been made easy for him. He 
 was content to toy with statesmanship. The only 
 things he treated seriously were women and fly-fishing. 
 
 "Did you hear the speech last night?" asked 
 Lady Aline as they seated themselves at the table. 
 
 "Unfortunately, no," said the Duke with an odd 
 grimace. 
 
 "I want you to answer me one question, Robert," 
 said Lady Aline. "Has it ruined him?" 
 
 His Grace took a little time for his answer. 
 
 "Yes, of course it has," he said. "And it's quite 
 on the cards that it's ruined the country. Things 
 are in a hopeless state this morning. " 
 
 "One would have thought Evan Mauleverer " 
 
 "They'll never stand poor dear Evan for a quarter 
 of an hour. Of course we might try him, but it's 
 taking a frightful risk. The working classes have 
 got conscription on the brain and I don't blame 
 'em. Antrobus says we should have the Northum- 
 brian miners pulling down the Houses of Parliament 
 in twenty-four hours."
 
 THE CRISIS 55 
 
 "Well, there's nobody else is there?" 
 
 "Nobody, absolutely that is, at the moment. 
 There is an extraordinary conflict of opinion. " 
 
 "Why don't they ask you, Robert?" 
 
 The Duke shrugged his shoulders placidly. 
 
 "This is a job for a professional," he said. "I am 
 only an amateur, my dear Aline, and by the courtesy 
 of Providence I'm content to remain one. It's not 
 a gentleman's work to fight those dirty dogs on the 
 Left. I hold my nose every time I go into the place 
 and carry carbolic in my handkerchief. The fact is, 
 my dear Aline, that filthy scum has been presented 
 with every card in the game. " 
 
 "Yes," said Lady Aline with intense bitterness. 
 
 "Of course those unwashed beasts will demand a 
 referendum if we don't come to some agreement 
 mighty soon, and then it will be a case of Citizen 
 Galloway or a certain gentleman who shall be 
 nameless." 
 
 "Do you think he had that in his mind?" 
 
 Rockingham laughed, not very pleasantly. 
 
 "Undoubtedly. At least a certain person had 
 it in hers." 
 
 Lady Aline's face hardened. 
 
 "I knew she had set him on," she said. "I knew 
 she was serving her own miserable ends. " 
 
 "There is one thing she has forgotten though." 
 
 "What is that?"
 
 56 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "The Seventh Commandment," said his Grace, 
 looking his companion imperturbably in the eyes. 
 
 The face of Lady Aline was the colour of flame. 
 The glass of water she was about to drink slopped 
 over on to the tablecloth. 
 
 "England is a very moral country," said the 
 Duke, "and her Grace has forgotten it. There is 
 the prettiest little cabal going on since Bulstrode, 
 poor devil, was hounded out of politics. St. John 
 Becher is the most important man in London just 
 now. The purity brigade have got their ears back 
 properly, I can tell you." 
 
 The face of Lady Aline was now the colour of ashes. 
 
 "It seems a pity that a fine career should end in 
 that way," said the Duke imperturbably. "I'm 
 rather sorry," he added with a somewhat sinister 
 air of magnanimity. "He has such possibilities. 
 When he's up he's the most interesting man in the 
 House. By the way, I met him striding along the 
 Mall just now as though his life depended on it. 
 That is why I looked in. And as I came to the door, 
 lo and behold! her Grace was driving away from it." 
 
 "She simply haunts the place now." 
 
 "I know," said the husband of her Grace with 
 calm indifference. "Well, she has the satisfaction 
 of having ruined a man of genius. I suppose it is a 
 satisfaction of a kind. " 
 
 "I can't think it is ruin."
 
 THE CRISIS 57 
 
 "You would have thought so had you heard what 
 passed this morning at the Palace. The studiously 
 well-bred manner in which one and all avoided 
 the mention of his name in my hearing was the 
 choicest bit of comedy I've seen for years. Moliere 
 never surpassed it. And as though one cared a 
 continental damn. " His Grace was suddenly over- 
 whelmed by laughter which sounded absolutely 
 unforced and spontaneous. "It's a quaint, mad 
 world, my masters. I must say the atmosphere was 
 rather overpowering. By Jove, Aline," the Duke 
 laid down his knife and fork, "if I didn't dislike the 
 man so intensely, I'd rather like to see him play a 
 coup. Somehow Mr. Pecksniff always gets one on 
 the raw." 
 
 Lady Aline was silent. She and Rockingham 
 were very old friends, and she was well accustomed 
 to his frankness. But this morning it had a note 
 of confidence that was almost brutal. He had 
 always chosen to ignore the fact that she had married 
 "the Haberdasher," but even he had never quite 
 permitted himself his present degree of license. 
 
 "I wonder if the man is capable of playing a coup. 
 But no" the tone regained its assurance "the 
 fellow is not big enough and deep enough for that. " 
 
 "What do you mean by a coup, Robert?" 
 
 "They seem to think in the Centre, those om- 
 niscient Moderates " Rockingham's tone was
 
 58 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 bitingly satirical "that Mr. D. having crabbed 
 all parties, having cut the ground from under the 
 feet of everybody, might make a trial of his own 
 strength. They seem to think he has an enormous 
 and growing power in the country." 
 
 The Duke's laugh was not agreeable. It may have 
 been an emanation of the offended patriot; on the 
 other hand, it had a note which did not exactly 
 proclaim an unalloyed altruism. 
 
 "I suppose Evelyn might help him there?" said 
 Lady Aline. 
 
 "She is mischievous enough for anything. And 
 of course that infernal League, now that women 
 have become so important, has, in a way, to be 
 reckoned with. They say he has a strange power 
 over women. But of course he must have, else you 
 wouldn't have married him." 
 
 "I married him for love," said Lady Aline quite 
 simply. 
 
 Rockingham nodded his head in a kind of pity. 
 
 "Poor girl," he said very gently. "I wish I 
 understood more about women. They are so 
 amazing. That Aline Carlow, of all people, should 
 have married the Haberdasher!" 
 
 "He has genius." 
 
 "That is to say, he suffers from a rather obscure 
 mental disease." 
 
 "He has given me my moments though. My life
 
 THE CRISIS 59 
 
 would have been nothing without him. It has been a 
 great experience. I am proud to have been his wife. " 
 
 The slow tears gathered in her eyes. Rockingham 
 was silent. 
 
 "It is all over now," she said. "I cannot hold 
 him now, and I have ceased to try. He has gone 
 beyond me. I suppose my marriage was a tragic 
 mistake, as everybody said it would be. But I 
 don't regret it." 
 
 Lady Aline rose abruptly from the table and left 
 the room. Rockingham rose and followed her up- 
 stairs to her boudoir. In that seclusion she burst 
 into a sudden, uncontrollable paroxysm of tears. 
 
 He regarded coolly the exhibition of her weakness. 
 
 "Aline," he said at length very softly, taking her 
 hand very tenderly, "you must avenge yourself." 
 
 The slender shoulders were shaken with uncon- 
 trollable sobs. 
 
 He kissed her. 
 
 "Poor little soul!" he said. 
 
 She trembled from head to foot. He made to 
 take her in his arms, but like a small child who is 
 frightened she put him off. He gathered the charm- 
 ing fair head firmly against his shoulder. 
 
 "There," he said, stroking her hair, "have a 
 good cry." 
 
 He kissed her again. She shivered in his arms, 
 but she was a little comforted.
 
 60 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "If our child had lived, it would never have 
 happened." 
 
 Again the slender frame was shaken. 
 
 "One can never tell," said Rockingham. "The 
 idol, as a rule, has feet of clay. You remember the 
 old saying about the silk purse ?" 
 
 "Don't, Robert!" said Lady Aline piteously. 
 "I can't bear it. He is the noblest man I have 
 ever known." 
 
 "A good man perverted by a miserable, mischief- 
 making woman. She perverts everybody. It seems 
 to be her metier." 
 
 By a supreme effort Lady Aline managed to 
 regain self-control. 
 
 "Why did you marry her, Robert?" 
 
 "I married her for her intellect," said the Duke. 
 "And any man who marries a woman for her 
 intellect deserves to pay for it." 
 
 Lady Aline smiled sadly. 
 
 "I think I understand now, Robert, why they 
 call you a reactionary. No wonder the masses hate 
 you!" 
 
 "Oh, but they don't, now I've won the Derby 
 twice. And perhaps you think the classes consider 
 me an insolent trifler, eh? You mustn't believe it, 
 my dear Aline. I merely expound the faith as it 
 walks abroad in me. I try to have the courage of 
 my convictions, that is all."
 
 THE CRISIS 61 
 
 "One wonders if they are worth the courage that 
 they call for, Robert. " 
 
 "Oh, yes, to the individual, although perhaps they 
 have no national significance. Hullo, what have 
 we here!" 
 
 Nicholson, the butler, a responsible-looking patri- 
 arch, had entered the room, bearing on a salver a 
 small white envelope with a black seal. 
 
 "A special messenger, my lady, so I thought I had 
 better give it to you personally, as Mr. Draper is 
 not in." 
 
 "Thank you," said Lady Aline. "Put it on the 
 table, please." 
 
 Nicholson was a little surprised by the detachment 
 of the tone. All the same he withdrew with the air 
 of a maker of history. 
 
 " In his own hand too, by Jove, " said Rockingham, 
 taking a quizzical glance at the envelope as it lay on 
 the table. "It is entirely on his own initiative, 
 whatever it is. Evan Mauleverer and I found 
 occasion this morning, when the others had left, to 
 warn him strongly against taking Mr. D. into his 
 counsels. But he had got that fatuous Archbishop 
 coming to lunch. What a pity it is he is so impres- 
 sionable!" 
 
 "Oughtn't a Sovereign to be impressionable?" 
 
 "Of course he oughtn't to be. At his birth he 
 should have just a few definite and settled con-
 
 62 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 victions given to him, and he should hang on to them 
 like grim death. If every little side current of 
 opinion can turn him this way and that, what is he 
 going to do when the floodgates are opened?" 
 
 The Duke, for all his mantle of cynicism, was 
 plainly discomposed by the modest-looking little 
 packet on the table. 
 
 "Evan and I were both at particular pains to 
 warn him. Mark my words, Aline, if that husband 
 of yours once comes out on top the monarchy will 
 not be worth that!" And Rockingham snapped 
 his fingers. 
 
 "What can have moved him to write it, I wonder?" 
 
 He shook a finger in the direction of the envelope. 
 Clearly, he was possessed by an itch of curiosity. 
 
 "Are you sure the writing is his?" asked Lady 
 Aline, with her eyes fixed upon the letter. 
 
 "Quite. One would know that hand anywhere. 
 It is the most characteristic thing about him. A 
 special messenger besides." 
 
 Lady Aline kept her gaze pinned upon the letter. 
 
 "What can it mean?" said Rockingham, twisting 
 his moustache in his perplexity. "But whatever it 
 may mean it ought not to be. " 
 
 "You are quite clear upon that point, Robert?" 
 said Lady Aline, with a strange look in her eyes. 
 
 "Oh, quite. He oughtn't to be writing to any- 
 body, least of all to Mr. Draper, at this hour of the
 
 THE CRISIS 63 
 
 day. It's most unconstitutional. I expect it's that 
 confounded parson. " 
 
 Rockingham was a picture of discomposure. 
 And then suddenly, without a word, Lady Aline 
 took the letter from the table and quietly placed 
 it in the fire. 
 
 "Good God, Aline, are you mad!" 
 
 Rockingham gave a cry of dismay. Instantly 
 he plunged his hand right into the fire and plucked 
 out the scorched envelope. He burnt himself rather 
 severely. 
 
 "Aline," he said with a wry mouth as he wrapped 
 his handkerchief round his hand, "you ought not to 
 have done that. " 
 
 Her eyes had a curious light; her lips were set in a 
 straight line. 
 
 "It's not quite the game, Aline." The pain of 
 his fingers was beginning to make him swear a 
 little. 
 
 "I am so sorry you are hurt, Robert," she said 
 penitently. 
 
 "Oh, that's nothing," he said, valiantly stifling 
 a groan. "But it was a near thing, by Jove!" 
 
 "And if it had been destroyed?" said the defiant, 
 thin-lipped mouth. 
 
 "Oh, no, my dear girl." He reproved her gently 
 as if she were a small but naughty child. "It isn't 
 cricket, you know."
 
 64 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 As she stood looking at him she made an odd 
 picture, half acute remorse, half impenitence. 
 
 "You must please let me put something on your 
 fingers," she said, conquered finally by the courage 
 with which he bore his affliction. 
 
 He smiled at her rather wryly through the sharp 
 pain that twisted his face. 
 
 "Oh, that's nothing at all, my dear girl." He 
 held out his rather mutilated fingers. "But if you 
 are really sorry you had better kiss them to make 
 them better. "
 
 IX 
 
 WHEN Mr. Draper returned at four o'clock to 
 Queen Anne's Gate, almost the first thing 
 that caught his eye was the charred envelope lying 
 on his study table. He picked it up, and as he was 
 already acquainted with its contents, he examined 
 its exterior closely without breaking the seal. 
 
 "It's abominably careless!" he said, and he rang 
 the bell rather tempestuously. 
 
 The butler appeared in person. 
 
 "Nicholson," said his master sharply, "what is the 
 meaning of this ? A most important document partly 
 destroyed." 
 
 "I can only say I very much regret it, sir," said 
 the butler with lowered gaze. 
 
 "How did it happen?" 
 
 "I can't explain, sir, how it came to happen," 
 said the butler, "but I accept full responsibility for 
 the occurrence." 
 
 "It won't do, Nicholson," said his master sharply. 
 "There's a mystery here. Where is Mr. Renshaw?" 
 
 "He is out, sir. He was not in when the letter 
 arrived, and he knows nothing about it. " 
 
 65
 
 66 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "To whom did you give the letter on its arrival?" 
 
 Nicholson answered without hesitation. 
 
 "I gave it to no one, sir. I brought it straight in 
 here, and it got partly destroyed by mistake. " 
 
 "Where was Lady Aline when it arrived?" 
 
 "At luncheon, sir." 
 
 "Why didn't you give it to her?" 
 
 "Yes, sir I ought to have done. I realize that. 
 I am very sorry indeed, sir." 
 
 Mr. Draper looked perplexed. Obviously he was 
 a good deal disturbed. 
 
 " I am not tatisfied with your explanation, Nichol- 
 son," he said. "I know you to be an invaluable 
 servant. You have been in the service of three 
 prime ministers. I know you to be a discreet and 
 responsible man. This letter was delivered to you, 
 I believe, by special messenger. Such gross negli- 
 gence in a matter of such grave importance is quite 
 unlike you. " 
 
 The butler bowed. 
 
 "I thank you, sir," he said. "I hope I under- 
 stand the great responsibility of my position. " 
 
 The Minister tapped the charred envelope with 
 his finger. 
 
 "This was not an accident, Nicholson," he 
 said. "That is the kind of accident that doesn't 
 happen. Did any one lunch with Lady Aline?" 
 
 For the fraction of an instant the butler hesitated.
 
 THE CRISIS 67 
 
 "No one, sir." 
 
 "She lunched alone?" 
 
 "Yes, sir alone." 
 
 "Very well. That will do for the present. But 
 I am by no means satisfied. I intend to probe this 
 matter to the bottom. " 
 
 The butler withdrew. When he had closed the 
 door of his master's study he hesitated for a moment 
 like a man in doubt. Then he made his way upstairs 
 to the boudoir of his mistress. She was indulging 
 in a lonely cup of tea and a cigarette. 
 
 "May I speak to you, my lady?" 
 
 "Certainly, Nicholson," said his mistress amiably. 
 
 "It's about that letter, my lady. Mr. Draper has 
 questioned me about it. " 
 
 "Well?" said his mistress with amiable indifference. 
 
 "I thought I would like you to know, my lady, 
 that I have taken full responsibility for it. I have 
 informed Mr. Draper that it was not delivered to 
 you, and I have also informed him that you lunched 
 alone. " 
 
 "That was rather indiscreet, wasn't it, Nicholson? 
 from your point of view, I mean." The tone of 
 Lady Aline was one of rather bored indifference. 
 
 "I hope your ladyship approves of what I have 
 done." 
 
 "On the contrary, I disapprove of it very 
 strongly."
 
 68 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I am exceedingly sorry, my lady." 
 
 The butler's face was rather blank. 
 
 "Was it necessary to lie about it, Nicholson?" 
 said his mistress. "Is it necessary to lie about 
 anything?" 
 
 "I can only say, my lady, that I have been in 
 the service of three prime ministers, I am an old man, 
 and experience has taught me that when two evils 
 are presented to one it is generally wise to choose 
 the lesser. " 
 
 Lady Aline was rather amused by this statesman- 
 like omniscience. 
 
 "In other words," said she, "you think it is better 
 that you should lie and that I should lie rather than 
 state the simple fact that a piece of paper was 
 thrown in the fire. I am sorry, Nicholson, but I am 
 afraid that kind of ethics is a little too advanced for 
 me. I have always been brought up to believe, you 
 know, that it is well for a servant to keep his place. " 
 
 The butler bowed humbly and gravely. 
 
 "I am sorry, my lady," he said, "that you take 
 this view. Having regard to the special circum- 
 stances I thought, after careful consideration, that 
 that was the right course to take. I still venture to 
 think so, my lady, having regard to the special 
 circumstances. We are making history just at 
 present, my lady, if you will excuse my freedom in 
 mentioning it."
 
 THE CRISIS 69 
 
 "So I believe," said his mistress, "but it seems 
 rather unwise, Nicholson, that you should be mixed 
 up in the process." 
 
 " It is not the first time, my lady, " said Nicholson 
 with the pride that apes humility, "that I have tried 
 to do my best for the country in a national crisis. 
 But since your ladyship disapproves of my action, 
 I beg to be allowed to give notice. " 
 
 "Very well, Nicholson," said his mistress, lighting 
 a fresh cigarette; "I am inclined to think, in the 
 circumstances, that is the best thing you can do. 
 Your notice had better take effect a month from 
 to-day. And as you have been quite a good servant, 
 with whom I'm sure Mr. Draper will be sorry to part, 
 I shall be pleased to give you a good character. " 
 
 "Thank you very much, my lady, " said the butler, 
 who appeared to be deeply moved. 
 
 He made to withdraw. Before he could leave the 
 room, however, Mr. Draper himself had entered. 
 In his hand was the charred envelope. 
 
 "Aline," said the Minister, speaking in a manner 
 more than usually direct, "this is a mystery I am 
 anxious to clear up." 
 
 He showed his wife the letter. 
 
 "I am not aware," said Lady Aline, "that it is 
 a mystery at all." 
 
 "Nicholson appears to treat it as one." 
 
 "Oh, yes. But that is an error of judgment on his
 
 70 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 part. At least that is the view I take of it, although 
 he still seems rather unconvinced. The whole thing 
 is really quite simple. Nicholson delivered the letter 
 to me. I chose to throw it in the fire, and Rocking- 
 ham at the cost of his fingers chose to pull it out. " 
 
 "Rockingham?" 
 
 "Yes, he lunched here." 
 
 "And you threw it in the fire?" 
 
 "Yes," said his wife coldly. 
 
 "And Rockingham pulled it out?" 
 
 "Yes, at the cost of his fingers. One rather 
 respects him for it, I think." 
 
 For the moment the Minister stood in silence, 
 looking a little unnerved. Still holding the charred 
 envelope in his hand he seemed like a man in a 
 dream. 
 
 The silence was broken by the quiet and low voice 
 of the butler. It vibrated with feeling. 
 
 "I acted as I thought right, sir. I am sorry if 
 I have not done so. But I now beg to be allowed 
 to give notice, sir. " 
 
 The Minister's drawn face had turned very white. 
 At last, putting forth a powerful effort of the will, he 
 was able to regain command of himself. He placed 
 his hand on the butler's shoulder. 
 
 "You were right, Nicholson," he said. "You 
 were quite right. " 
 
 They went out of the room together.
 
 X 
 
 MR. DRAPER and his wife were engaged for 
 dinner that evening and they had to go on to 
 a party afterward. On the plea of public business 
 the Minister asked to be excused. Lady Aline went 
 without him, and he dined alone. 
 
 The butler noticed that he ate and drank very 
 little and that he seemed even more preoccupied 
 than usual. It was clear that the business of the 
 letter was weighing upon his mind. But there were 
 other things that were weighing upon it too. 
 
 A little before nine o'clock Nicholson was sum- 
 moned to his master's study. 
 
 "Suppose you consider yourself off duty for an 
 hour, Nicholson," said the Minister. "Come and 
 smoke a pipe and let us discuss the present dis- 
 contents." 
 
 Had Nicholson been a dull man he would have 
 been not unlikely to resent this unconventional 
 behaviour of his master. A butler of high caste has 
 his own private code of the ethics of his calling no 
 less than a Minister of the Crown. Only a very 
 bold man would have ventured to ignore the fact. 
 
 71
 
 72 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Each one of Nicholson's prime ministers would as 
 lief have flown to the moon as invite him to his study- 
 to smoke a pipe after dinner and discuss the political 
 situation. Happily, Nicholson was in nowise a 
 small-minded man. Humbly and readily he sank 
 the dignity of his calling in the exigencies of the 
 crisis. 
 
 "Mix yourself a whisky and soda, Nicholson," 
 said his master, "and then take that chair. You'll 
 find that one the most comfortable. " 
 
 "Thank you, sir." 
 
 With an air which he had unconsciously copied 
 from his first prime minister, Nicholson mixed a 
 fairly stiff whisky and soda and then seated himself 
 at a slightly pontifical leisure. 
 
 "I am open to correction," said his master, "but 
 I regard you as a Centre man with a rather pro- 
 nounced bias toward the Right. " 
 
 Nicholson's confirmation of this acute prognosis 
 was both wary and austere. The circumstances 
 made it necessary that not a fibre of the official 
 dignity ohould be relaxed. At the same time the 
 innate urbanity of the accomplished clubman craved 
 for free play. 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Nicholson, achieving a blend of 
 deportment which seemed exactly to meet the case. 
 "I think you are pretty correct. Except, perhaps, 
 sir, that since the Marquis's time, as you might say,
 
 THE CRISIS 73 
 
 I really belong more to the Right than I do to the 
 Centre." 
 
 "Yes, I ought to have known that," said Mr. 
 Draper. "At heart you are the born aristocrat. 
 It is merely your professional instincts that bring 
 you anywhere near the Centre at all. You belong 
 to a significant type a type which has got a very 
 important part to play just now. " 
 
 "I hope, sir, we shall be able to rise to our responsi- 
 bilities," said Nicholson, filling his pipe after having 
 been invited to do so. 
 
 "Yes, that is the all-important question for all 
 of us. You see, Nicholson, the classes that have a 
 natural and instinctive reverence for the established 
 order of things are now right up against a proletariat 
 which is developing too quickly to be healthy. 
 A succession of ministries has pampered it quite 
 regardless of the mischief they have been doing. 
 The proletariat, as an inevitable consequence, has 
 waxed insolent and become a bully. Don't you 
 rather agree?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, I do. I always tell them that at our 
 little society which meets every Thursday evening, 
 of which I have the honour to be a vice-president. 
 What I say is, sir, Democracy will have to be taken 
 down a peg unless the whole thing is going to burst 
 up altogether." 
 
 Mr. Draper nodded his approval.
 
 74 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "For the last twenty years, sir," continued 
 Nicholson, "the masses, in my opinion, have had 
 a great deal too much given to them. Enlarged 
 franchise, which lies at the root of all the mischief, 
 free food, free doctoring, free insurance, free edu- 
 cation for their children, pensions for their old age, 
 have put them right above themselves, in my opinion. 
 It is a case of all masters and no servants nowadays. " 
 
 "You would say that they have not been able to 
 assimilate all the blessings that have been showered 
 upon them?" 
 
 "Yes, sir; assimilate, that is the word. And the 
 more they get the more discontented they become. 
 They simply cry out for more instead of learning to 
 make use of what they have already. " 
 
 "I am much interested, Nicholson, in your point 
 of view," said the Minister. "Something has cer- 
 tainly given rise to a terribly difficult and extremely 
 complex situation. " 
 
 "The demands of Labour, sir, are outrageous at 
 the present time, in my opinion. " 
 
 "I am inclined to agree with you, Nicholson. 
 But unhappily there seems to be a consensus of 
 opinion in the country that at this stage Capital 
 has no alternative but to continue to yield to them. " 
 
 "Well, if it does, sir, there will soon be no capital 
 left in the country to yield to anything. I know for 
 a fact, sir, that if this Bill had gone through,
 
 THE CRISIS 75 
 
 which you, sir, were wise enough to overthrow at 
 the eleventh hour, the masters had arranged to close 
 down all the mills in Lancashire. " 
 
 "That is interesting. How did you acquire the 
 information ? " 
 
 "My brother, sir, is in the service of Sir Samuel 
 Cooper of Preston. The Lancashire mill-owners 
 held a meeting at his house the other night." 
 
 "That is important. I rather wish you had seen 
 fit to communicate your knowledge a little sooner." 
 
 "I didn't like to presume, sir. Besides, sir, I felt 
 sure you would know about it." 
 
 "No; as a matter of fact it is the first I have 
 heard of it. It shows the point we have reached, it 
 shows the kind of political atmosphere we are living 
 in at present. The group to which the Lancashire 
 mill-owners belong will have nothing to do with the 
 Coalition Government. They have boycotted it 
 persistently. They prefer to keep their plans a 
 secret and work in the dark. And of course that 
 enormously increases the difficulty of the task of 
 government. " 
 
 "Yes, sir, that I quite understand. In fact, sir, 
 to quote your great speech the other night, to which 
 I had the pleasure of listening, l a great chasm has 
 opened in the economic life of the nation, and has 
 left Capital on one side and Labour on the other.' ' 
 
 The Minister nodded his head.
 
 7 6 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 " I shall never forget that speech, sir. No one who 
 heard it, sir, will ever forget it. When I was a young 
 man it was my privilege to hear Mr. Bright deliver 
 his ' Angel-of- death-has-been-abroad-in-the-land ' 
 speech from that very gallery. Your speech on 
 Tuesday night, sir, if you will allow me to say so, 
 belonged to the same class. Those who heard it, sir, 
 will never forget it to their dying day. " 
 
 As Nicholson spoke his voice grew lower and 
 lower, until his last words were almost inaudible. 
 With a gesture of reverence he folded his hands in 
 front of him. 
 
 The Minister was moved. 
 
 "It is the finest compliment that has ever been 
 paid to me, Nicholson," he said quite simply. "I 
 felt the occasion very deeply. I wanted to drive it 
 home to the nation." 
 
 "And you did, sir. You turned over eighty votes 
 in the Centre and threw out the Government. It 
 was a very great performance, sir, if you will allow 
 me to say so. I never expected to hear the equal 
 of Mr. Bright, sir, but I heard him on Tuesday night 
 and if you'll excuse the freedom, sir, I think your 
 mind is deeper and more practical. " 
 
 "You honestly think that, Nicholson?" said the 
 Minister, with a simplicity that was almost boyish. 
 
 "I do, sir honestly." 
 
 "You pay me a very high compliment," said the
 
 THE CRISIS 77 
 
 Minister naively. " It is so difficult for an emotional 
 mind to be also practical." 
 
 "That is so, sir," said Nicholson, concurring 
 gravely. "Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Morgan and 
 Mr. Collins were emotional men, and all of them 
 fine orators not quite in your class, and Mr. 
 B right's you know, sir but to my mind they were 
 not practical men. They could always see the begin- 
 ning, but they couldn't always see the end. . . . 
 That, sir, if you will excuse the freedom, is why I 
 admired you so much last night. You were looking 
 ahead all the time." 
 
 "I always try to do that," said the Minister 
 modestly. 
 
 "Mr. Hendry and the Marquis always used to 
 do it too, sir, although, of course, you couldn't call 
 either of them orators. But that's how they got 
 their power in the country. They were far-seeing, 
 practical men. They made mistakes, sir, but they 
 could see into the future. And they never allowed 
 the enemy to outflank them, like some other prime 
 ministers I could name. They never gave back an 
 inch to gain a temporary advantage, when it was 
 presently going to cost them the whole position. 
 I'm quoting your speech again, sir, begging your 
 pardon. What I say is, sir, it is a merciful thing 
 for the country that you were inspired to throw out 
 that Bill."
 
 78 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 The Minister, engaged in his characteristic occu- 
 pation of walking up and down the room, paused 
 to search the face of the old butler with an eager 
 and a glowing eye. 
 
 "That is your honest conviction, Nicholson? 
 I hope you don't say it merely to give me pleasure." 
 
 "No, sir," said, the butler gravely. "It is not 
 my custom to speak to please anybody when it 
 comes to national affairs. They know that at our 
 little society which meets every Thursday, and that's 
 why they respect me. Please God, sir, I say what 
 I mean and I mean what I say, when it comes to 
 national affairs. " 
 
 "I am sure of it, Nicholson," said the Minister. 
 "I am honoured by your approval. " 
 
 "Thank you, sir," said Nicholson gravely; "I 
 am glad to be able to return the compliment. If 
 you'll pardon the freedom, sir, there was just one 
 man I should like to have been present in the House 
 last night. " 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 "The King, sir. I said to my friend Hawksley 
 butler to the Duke of Flamborough, sir, and a fellow 
 vice-president of our little society, who was sitting 
 next to me in the gallery I said to my friend 
 Hawksley, l It is a great pity his Majesty is not here. 
 It would be a great help to him in the present crisis.' ' : 
 
 "And what said your friend Hawksley to that?"
 
 THE CRISIS 79 
 
 "Hawksley, sir, agreed with me. And if you'll 
 excuse the freedom, sir, it meant a very great 
 deal for Hawksley to do that, because up till then 
 he had always considered you quite a second-rate 
 man." 
 
 "You think the speech ought to strengthen my 
 position?" 
 
 "I do indeed, sir. In fact it has done so already. 
 To-morrow night, sir, I am going to move a resolu- 
 tion, that 'in the opinion of this society the Right 
 Honourable James Draper should be invited to form 
 a Ministry/ " 
 
 "What is the name of your society?" 
 
 "The Butlers' Union, sir, of which Mr. Hawksley 
 and I have the honour to be vice-presidents, and of 
 which his Majesty's senior butler is the president." 
 
 "Yes," said the Minister thoughtfully, "I appear 
 to have made ground. But it is rather surprising, 
 Nicholson, isn't it, that your society is political?" 
 
 "Strictly non-political, sir," said Nicholson. 
 "That is to say, we all think alike. We all belong 
 to the Right, sir, as our little society is confined to 
 men of the highest social standing. Why! would 
 you believe, sir, I nearly had to resign my mem- 
 bership when I entered your service three years ago. 
 You belonged to the Left, then, sir; you were kind 
 of working your way up. I had to appear before the 
 committee, and in spite of the fact, sir, that I had
 
 8o AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 been in the service of three prime ministers, it was 
 only Lady Aline that saved me. " 
 
 "You appear to be a very exclusive society." 
 
 "Very exclusive, indeed! In a manner of speak- 
 ing, sir, the most exclusive society in London. Birth 
 can get in, as a rule. Ability, sometimes. Money 
 often finds it difficult. It's really best to have a 
 combination; then you are generally all right. Not 
 always, sir, of course; there are exceptions to every 
 rule. Only last year, Lord Harbury's butler old 
 Catholic family greatly respected in Ireland was 
 blackballed because his master had married an 
 actress. We carry it to extremes sometimes, sir, I'm 
 bound to admit, but it's a fault on the right side, to 
 my mind." 
 
 "Well, Nicholson," said the Minister, "I am very 
 glad to have had this talk with you. And I hope 
 on Thursday night you will put your resolution, and, 
 moreover, that you will be able to carry it. " 
 
 "I have no doubt I shall be able to do that, sir," 
 said the butler, rising and taking his leave. "Ours 
 is a society of sensible men. "
 
 XI 
 
 LEFT alone the Minister selected Mill's "Con- 
 stitution" from the carefully furnished shelves 
 and began to dip at random. Somehow the familiar 
 pages were unable to hold his attention to-night. 
 He was in a condition of strange unrest. For once 
 he seemed unable to concentrate his thoughts, so that 
 presently he had recourse to that never-failing 
 anodyne for fevered minds, the "Meditations of 
 Marcus Aurelius." 
 
 As always, that masculine intelligence was able 
 to compose him. Presently the inner tumult began 
 to subside. Deep answered unto deep; his soul went 
 out to that of the noble pagan. An hour passed, and 
 then suddenly, with a great surge of feeling, he 
 reawoke to the exigencies of the present. He looked 
 up from the page with a sense of inward power. 
 His eyes fell upon the small model in plaster in the 
 centre of the chimneypiece. 
 
 "Ask of me my country," he murmured, as if in 
 answer to the austere gaze that seemed to meet 
 his own. 
 
 The thought was still in his mind, the book was 
 
 81
 
 82 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 still in his hand, his eyes were still upon the plaster 
 cast, when the butler re-entered the room. 
 
 "A gentleman wishes to see you, sir," he said, "if 
 you can spare him five minutes." 
 
 The Minister struggled back to the world of men 
 and things. "What is his name?" 
 
 "He would not give his name, sir." 
 
 "Has he been here before?" 
 
 "Not to my knowledge, sir." 
 
 "And you don't know who he is?" 
 
 The butler had begun to look rather embarrassed. 
 
 " I don't exactly say that, sir. At least, that is to 
 say, I may have a strong suspicion of his identity." 
 
 "Well, whom do you take him to be ? " The butler 
 grew more embarrassed than ever. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sir, but I feel that I wouldn't 
 like to presume to say who I think he is, for fear I 
 might be mistaken. " 
 
 His master began to grow rather impatient. "It 
 is all very mysterious," he said. "Do you suppose 
 I myself know this person ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir. I feel quite sure you do." 
 
 "What time is it? A quarter to eleven! It's a 
 rather strange hour. Still the times are strange." 
 The Minister hesitated before making his decision. 
 "Very well, bring him along and I'll try to solve 
 the enigma of his identity. " 
 
 A moment later the mysterious visitor had been
 
 THE CRISIS 83 
 
 ushered into the room. He appeared to be about 
 fifty, rather under the middle height. There was an 
 air of simple and unaffected modesty about him as 
 he entered, and this effect was heightened by an 
 unpretentious-looking overcoat and an equally un- 
 pretentious dinner jacket and black tie beneath. 
 
 "I hope I am not disturbing you, my dear Mr. 
 Draper," said the visitor, offering his hand with a 
 quiet air of friendliness that was charming. 
 
 The Minister was clearly taken aback. For an 
 instant he betrayed both surprise and embarrass- 
 ment. 
 
 "Why, sir," he said, " I feel this to be a very great 
 honour." 
 
 "I don't want you to feel anything of the kind, 
 said the mysterious visitor with the same quiet but 
 charmingly urbane air, which yet made an effect of 
 perfect sincerity. "I am very lucky to find you at 
 home. I was afraid you might have gone into the 
 country." 
 
 "Won't you take off your overcoat, sir?" said 
 the Minister. 
 
 "Thanks." 
 
 The visitor removed his outer garment. 
 
 "And if you will give me a whisky and soda in 
 exchange for a cigar that I know you won't smoke 
 
 The visitor produced a modest-looking cigar case
 
 84 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 and offered it, while Mr. Draper rang for the other 
 requisites. 
 
 By the time the visitor was seated at his ease, a 
 little out of the light, the Minister, who was observ- 
 ing him with covert intentness, was able to see that 
 the genial ease of his bearing, which in itself was so 
 pleasant as almost to be captivating, was a cloak for 
 deeper qualities beneath. A close scrutiny of the 
 mysterious visitor's face showed it to be deeply lined, 
 careworn and pale. There was a fixed look of sadness 
 in the heavy-lidded eyes. 
 
 "What is your book, Mr. Draper?" 
 
 '"Marcus Aurelius.'" 
 
 "The wisest man that ever lived, I sometimes 
 think. He's been a true friend to me." 
 
 The quiet voice was beautiful when feeling fused it. 
 
 "And who is that on the chimneypiece? 
 Oh, yes." 
 
 A subtle smile hovered in the careworn eyes. 
 Mr. Draper smiled too. He rose from his chair 
 and turned the face of the Lord Protector to the 
 wall. 
 
 "No, no," said the visitor, laughing. "We can't 
 have that. Somebody has to cut off the head of a 
 king, now and again, don't you know, pour encour- 
 ager les autres. " 
 
 "I am very glad, sir, you are able to view the 
 proceeding with such detachment," said the Minister.
 
 THE CRISIS 85 
 
 "I am very glad, sir, to have your permission to 
 put him back again." 
 
 And laughing heartily he reversed the bust of the 
 Lord Protector. 
 
 "I thought I would like to have another little chat 
 with you," said the visitor, drawing quietly at his 
 cigar. "Our recent conversation has given me a 
 clearer grasp of the position than I have ever had 
 before. I have discussed it lately with all sorts of 
 people. Upon nearly every point they are widely 
 at variance, but upon two they are absolutely unani- 
 mous in agreement." 
 
 "And those, sir?" said the Minister, fixing his 
 sunken eyes upon those of his visitor. 
 
 "And those, my dear Mr. Draper, are first, 
 that the situation is extremely grave, and, second, 
 that you are a very dangerous man." 
 
 "I?" 
 
 "Yes they all think that. I have had most 
 solemn warnings against you." 
 
 "I console myself, sir, with the thought that 
 independence of mind is always viewed with the 
 deepest suspicion. " 
 
 "It was a point I urged myself, this afternoon, 
 with the Archbishop. But he says the Right has 
 always doubted your loyalty to the Throne." 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir, they have always doubted me," 
 said the Minister quietly. "I have been called a
 
 86 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 republican and other hard names. They say I aim 
 at the first presidency of Great Britain and Ireland." 
 
 "Do you aim, my dear Mr. Draper, at that high- 
 sounding title?" said the visitor equably. 
 
 Mr. Draper took time for his answer. 
 
 "Yes, sir, I do," he said, "if it is the will of 
 God."
 
 XII 
 
 AND of the English people?" said the visitor 
 after a pause. 
 
 "The will of the English people is the will of 
 God, sir." 
 
 The visitor quietly smoked his cigar. 
 
 "Yes, it is!" he said. "But first let us clearly 
 ascertain it. And how, pray, are we to do it now 
 that our electoral machinery has broken down so 
 lamentably?" 
 
 "By an appeal to arms, sir the old-fashioned way. " 
 
 "Yes, in the last resort. But always in the last 
 resort. " 
 
 "We are very near it, sir." 
 
 "Yes, they tell me so." 
 
 The visitor's voice fell rather suddenly. 
 
 "It's a grievous thing," he said. His face looked 
 pinched and haggard. "The mischief is continually 
 growing. " 
 
 "I have confirmation of that, sir," said the 
 Minister. 
 
 He unlocked a drawer in his desk and took out 
 a letter. 
 
 87
 
 88 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Do you care to read it, sir?" 
 
 The visitor produced a pair of eyeglasses. 
 
 "Who is John Cox?" he said, when he had finished 
 reading the letter. 
 
 "John Cox, sir, is the General Secretary of the 
 Workers' League, which has an affiliated member- 
 ship of fifteen million persons. It is an organization 
 that ought, in my humble judgment, to have been 
 strangled at its birth. My Manchester speech of 
 March five years ago advocated that course very 
 strongly. But I was then a voice crying in the 
 wilderness. Nobody heeded me, and that speech 
 nearly terminated my public career. " 
 
 "Oh, yes, Mr. Draper, I remember the speech. 
 But you were then regarded, you know, as a rival of 
 Galloway. The opinion commonly held at that time 
 was that you were trying to spike his guns." 
 
 The Minister smiled. 
 
 "It has always pleased a certain faction to regard 
 me as the rival of Galloway. If I have said or done 
 a thing, it has generally been attributed to a desire 
 to score a point with the electorate at the expense 
 of a man for whom I have a profound contempt. " 
 
 "That has been rather the case, I am afraid. 
 One is beginning to see the injustice of it all." 
 
 "I make no complaint, sir, as far as I am con- 
 cerned personally," said the Minister. "But if 
 people who ought to know better did not allow an
 
 THE CRISIS 89 
 
 unworthy partisanship to override their judgment, 
 I sometimes think it would give us all a better 
 chance." 
 
 "It was certainly very wrong not to have heeded 
 the warning, " said the visitor. 
 
 "The League has now become a great power. 
 It is a secret society which practically controls the 
 electorate. At the present moment the ruler of 
 England is George John Galloway. " 
 
 "That is your deliberate opinion, Mr. Draper?" 
 
 "I give it, sir, for what it is worth. But there 
 are two hundred seats on the Left which are the 
 nominees of the League. The question now at issue 
 is whether any legislation is to be possible without 
 its mandate." 
 
 " I have been given to understand that Galloway is 
 a very dangerous man." 
 
 "In my judgment, sir, he is a menace to society. 
 He has a genius for organization; moreover, he in- 
 spires and controls a foul Press which has carefully 
 studied the art of appealing to uneducated minds." 
 
 "Would you say that this man is actively dis- 
 loyal?' 
 
 "I go further, sir. In my opinion he is an enemy 
 of society. " 
 
 "You are a man of strong views, Mr. Draper." 
 
 "I hope, sir, I am. One can do nothing in this 
 world without them. When I see a man of this
 
 90 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 stamp inflaming the passions of the ignorant it is 
 more than I can endure. If I were the King of 
 England - - " 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Draper, if you were the King of 
 England?" said the visitor in his tranquil voice, 
 cutting off the end of his second cigar. 
 
 "I should not rest easy in my bed, sir, until I 
 had scotched George John Galloway. " 
 
 "Is there any constitutional process by which 
 it could be done?" 
 
 "It would be very interesting to see, sir." 
 
 "Could we impeach him for sedition?" 
 
 "At any rate, sir, it would be interesting to have 
 the opinion of the Attorney-general. " 
 
 The visitor put on his eyeglasses and read the 
 letter again. 
 
 "I quite agree," he said, "but it seems to me that 
 this is hardly the time to take such a decisive step, 
 even if we were advised that it could be taken. 
 The situation is most critical. " 
 
 "The more critical the situation, sir, the greater 
 the need for decisive action. We have had far too 
 much of this balancing of one force against another 
 force; we have had far too much of this parleying 
 with the enemy in the gate. We have merely moved 
 on from crisis to crisis; we have merely postponed 
 the day of reckoning; and all the time the situation 
 has got more and more out of hand, and men like
 
 THE CRISIS 91 
 
 Galloway have been able to turn it to their own 
 profit." 
 
 The visitor nodded his head in acquiescence. 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Draper," he said, almost in the manner 
 of one thinking aloud. "You certainly hold strong 
 views. " 
 
 The Minister bowed deferentially. 
 
 " I merely give them, sir, for what they are worth. " 
 
 The visitor pondered; and then he smiled his 
 rather forlorn smile. 
 
 "I wish, Mr. Draper," he said, "you were not 
 such a dangerous man. Everybody walks, you know, 
 in fear of a reformed democrat. Now assuming 
 that we proceed to extremities against this man 
 Galloway, what, in your opinion, would be the 
 consequences ? " 
 
 "It would be the throwing down of the gage of 
 battle. The King's enemies, if they were strong 
 enough, would show themselves and come out into 
 the open." 
 
 "Yes and then?" 
 
 "I would strain the law to its limits and I would 
 strain the constitution to its limits to crush them out 
 of existence." 
 
 "And the country might be bathed in blood from 
 end to end!" 
 
 "Well, sir, it seems to me that that is the path of 
 statesmanship, wherever it may lead. We are sub-
 
 92 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 ject to an unbridled and ever-increasing tyranny. 
 There is no tyranny like that of selfish ignorance. 
 Democracy is going too fast. It is time, sir, in my 
 judgment, that somebody started in to hold it 
 back." 
 
 "But if it can only be done by machine guns?" 
 
 "So much the worse, sir, for democracy." 
 
 The visitor's laugh was rather melancholy. 
 
 "You are putting back the clock, aren't you, my 
 dear Mr. Draper?" he said in his musical voice. 
 "Richelieu talked in that way to Louis XIII in the 
 days of his particular League." 
 
 "I expect he did, sir. And, in any case, it seems 
 to me that we shall have to go back in order to 
 go forward. " 
 
 "Yes, I am afraid you are a highly dangerous man, 
 Mr. Draper," said his visitor with a sigh as he 
 measured himself a second whisky and soda. "And, 
 in any case, I know nothing more trying than to be 
 without a Government. By the way, there is a 
 meeting of the Privy Council to-morrow morning at 
 eleven. Will you be able to be present?" 
 
 The Minister did not answer immediately. "I 
 am out of sympathy, sir, with much of their recent 
 procedure," he said at length. 
 
 "But must we not proceed under constitutional 
 forms as far as we can?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, as far as we can. But in a crisis of this
 
 THE CRISIS 93 
 
 magnitude it seems safer to act first and then refer 
 to the constitution afterward. " 
 
 "Perhaps there is something to be said for that 
 view. In the meantime we must form a Govern- 
 ment of some kind. " 
 
 "I suppose, sir, the task will devolve upon Evan 
 Mauleverer?" 
 
 "He is the man, certainly, of the widest political 
 experience. He at least has a solid body of conserva- 
 tive opinion behind him. Personally, I hope he will 
 yield to pressure and take office. At the present 
 moment he seems the only possible alternative. 
 But whether he is a strong enough man to hold 
 things together under present conditions, that, of 
 course, is a question that we must leave time to 
 answer. " 
 
 "Time has answered it already, sir. Evan 
 Mauleverer has accepted office on two occasions; 
 and on each he has contrived to bring us sensibly 
 nearer to the Deluge. " 
 
 "Well, my dear Mr. Draper, can you suggest 
 any one else?" said the visitor, knocking the ash 
 off his cigar. 
 
 The Minister stroked the aggressive jaw which 
 had made him so many enemies. 
 
 "In the present crisis, sir," he said after a pause, 
 "Galloway himself would be less dangerous than 
 Evan Mauleverer. This is not the hour for dilet-
 
 94 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 tantism. Evan Mauleverer is very well here in 
 London and the home counties. But the North has 
 absolutely no use for him. And when all is said, sir, 
 it is the North that is the driving power of England 
 to-day. " 
 
 "Yes, I think we are all agreed upon that. 
 Evan Mauleverer is himself aware of it. That is 
 why he hesitates. The ground of his objection is 
 that to govern England to-day a man must have the 
 North behind him. And he frankly admits that he 
 hasn't that." 
 
 "Then, sir, let him make way for a man who has. " 
 
 "But where, my dear Mr. Draper, is the man to 
 be found?" The visitor took a long draw at his 
 cigar. 
 
 The Minister was silent. 
 
 A long and rather tense pause ensued. 
 
 The visitor peered intently into the stern face of 
 the Minister. Presently he rose from his chair. 
 
 "Mr. Draper," he said at last, very slowly and 
 reluctantly, "do you know what is said? Un- 
 derstand, I yield to the pressure of these great exi- 
 gencies." 
 
 Mr. Draper drew himself up proudly and a little 
 haughtily. 
 
 "It is not true, sir," he said in a voice of such 
 tense emotion that it was hardly recognizable as his 
 own. "I know what they are saying. I have
 
 THE CRISIS 95 
 
 never heard it, sir, from the lips of anybody, but 
 I feel it here." With a gesture of pain the Minister 
 placed his hand across his heart. 
 
 Under the stress of his own deep emotion the 
 visitor also showed signs of discomposure. 
 
 "One is glad to have such an assurance, Mr. 
 Draper," he said. "Although I would not have 
 you misunderstand me. I have always held myself 
 that it is an act of impertinence to pry into the 
 private life of a public man. But this is a peculiar 
 country. As you are aware, the contrary view is 
 freely held. I feel it only right to inform you that 
 the story is told against you with great circumstance 
 and it is very widely circulated. The greatest 
 pressure is being brought to bear against you from 
 every possible quarter. I accept your word gladly 
 and unreservedly, my dear Mr. Draper; I shall 
 lose no time in informing the Archbishop; but 
 in these grave circumstances it is desperately 
 unfortunate that the story has been circulated at 
 all." 
 
 The Minister remained silent. His face was not 
 very pleasant to look upon. 
 
 "It's a blackguardly trick," he said at last, "to 
 strike at a man through a woman and such a 
 woman. I'll admit, sir, I've been indiscreet. I 
 was born with a contempt for public opinion. I see 
 now that I have been wrong, that I have made a
 
 96 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 serious error of judgment in giving that kind of 
 handle to my enemies. They have used it very 
 skilfully. But, by God, sir" - the Minister brought 
 his hand down with a crash upon his writing-table 
 -"I'll beat them yet!" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Draper, I am inclined to think you 
 will, " said the visitor with courteous kindness. " But 
 having regard to all the forces that are marshalled 
 against you, I am sadly afraid that the time is not 
 yet. Unless " 
 
 "Unless, sir?" said the Minister with a kind of 
 sunken eagerness. 
 
 "Unless we get so deeply in the mire that we are 
 obliged to call you in to help us out. " 
 
 The Minister could not repress a rather forlorn 
 smile at this display of candour. 
 
 "I see, sir," he said in a hollow tone. 
 
 "Would you hesitate to do it, Mr. Draper if 
 the circumstances arose?" 
 
 "One never quite knows what one would do, sir, 
 in a given case, until the case presents itself. I love 
 my country, but this is the kind of thing to make a 
 man have doubts whether his country is worthy of 
 his love. " 
 
 "Perhaps I ought not to have mentioned it." 
 
 "I am sincerely grateful that you did, sir. My 
 instincts told me it was there all the time. I have 
 heard whispers; I've seen eyebrows raised and
 
 THE CRISIS 97 
 
 shoulders shrugged. But I didn't realize that it 
 had gone so far as this. " 
 
 The voice of the Minister died suddenly in his 
 throat. In his agitation he began to pace the room. 
 It was clear to his visitor that he was rather badly 
 hit.
 
 XIII 
 
 THE Minister was still engaged in walking up 
 and down the room in an effort to cope with 
 a stress of mind which he made no attempt to dis- 
 guise when the butler entered. 
 
 He gave his master a somewhat grimy-looking 
 card. 
 
 Mr. Draper glanced at it, and then after a mo- 
 ment's hesitation handed it to his visitor. On 
 the card was printed the following: 
 
 JOSEPH BRIGGS 
 
 President of the Engine Drivers' Association 
 14 Pym Street, Derby 
 
 "Yes, why not?" said the visitor in response to 
 the Minister's look of inquiry. 
 
 "I will see him, Nicholson," said Mr. Draper. 
 
 The President of the Engine Drivers' Association 
 proved to be a burly specimen of British manhood. 
 He was large and hearty and not overclean; his 
 voice was like a megaphone and his gait had a 
 nautical roll. 
 
 "Pleased to meet you, sir," said Joseph Briggs, 
 shaking hands warmly with the Minister. "I've 
 
 9 8
 
 THE CRISIS 99 
 
 been wanting to give myself the pleasure a long 
 time." 
 
 "I am very glad to make your acquaintance,, 
 Mr. Briggs," said the Minister, shaking hands 
 cordially. "What can I do for you?" 
 
 "Well, sir, it's a rather ticklish matter." Briggs 
 cast a glance in the direction of the visitor, who still 
 remained seated somewhat in the shadow. 
 
 "You can speak quite freely before my friend," 
 said the Minister. 
 
 "Well, sir, I'm sadly afraid there is black mischief 
 brewing at Derby." 
 
 "So I understand," said the Minister. "The 
 Home Office, I believe, has information to that 
 effect." 
 
 "Well, sir, my mates and I think if you would 
 come to Derby and address a meeting as soon as 
 possible you might do a power of good. You've got 
 a big influence at Derby, sir, among all grades. " 
 
 "I am very glad to enjoy the confidence of Derby." 
 
 "It's no idle compliment, sir; at Derby we know 
 a man's worth. We remember your speech last 
 year, sir, on the eve of the election. You've a good 
 backing at Derby, sir, but unfortunately these 
 young fellows have got out of hand." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Briggs, so I believe," said the Minister. 
 "And how do you account for their being out of 
 hand?"
 
 ioo AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Things is made too easy for 'em nowadays, sir. 
 They want to get on too fast. I put it down to free 
 education and free libraries partly. Instead of 
 being satisfied with a can of ale and a pipe of 'bacca 
 they go and overread themselves on socialism and 
 the Galloway press. The consequence is, sir, they 
 get right above themselves. They are all wanting 
 to be masters nowadays. " 
 
 "Can you suggest any remedy for this state of 
 things?" the visitor interposed. 
 
 "In the first place, sir, we want a strong Govern- 
 ment who won't stand nonsense from anybody. 
 My own opinion is, sir, we want a Government that 
 will put Galloway in gaol. " 
 
 "You think he is a menace to the country?" 
 the visitor quietly interposed. 
 
 "There is no doubt about that, sir. He's put 
 all the locomotive shops and the porters and the 
 plate-layers right above themselves. They talk of 
 their grievances. What are their grievances? They 
 ought to have joined the company forty years ago 
 and then they might have had some grievances to 
 talk about. No, sir, things are too easy for *em 
 nowadays. We hadn't the time in those days to 
 trouble about this syndicalism, as they call it, and 
 that sort of nonsense. " 
 
 "You would say, Mr. Briggs, the state of things 
 is very serious?" said the Minister.
 
 THE CRISIS 101 
 
 "That is my opinion, sir." 
 
 "And you think I might do some good at Derby?" 
 
 "I am convinced of it, sir. At Derby we older 
 men believe in you, and we should very much like 
 to see you Prime Minister. What we say is, that 
 if the King is a sensible gentleman he'll put you in 
 the place of Mr. Grundy without delay." 
 
 "Tell me, Mr. Briggs," said the visitor, "do you 
 consider the King to be a sensible gentleman?" 
 
 "Very, sir, I should say. At least that was the 
 impression I formed of him when I had the honour 
 of meeting him. " 
 
 "When did you meet him?" 
 
 "It would be the best part of ten years ago now r 
 sir. He gave me this. " 
 
 The President of the Engine Drivers' Association 
 indicated a small gold medal that was suspended 
 from his watch chain. 
 
 "Oh, yes, I remember," said the visitor, keeping 
 well in the shadow. "There was an accident; an 
 express was derailed and you saved the lives of three 
 of the passengers at great personal risk. You were 
 severely scalded, Mr. Briggs, in rendering assistance, 
 were you not?" 
 
 "Yes, sir. I was in the hospital the best part of 
 a year after it, but the company behaved very 
 handsome and I'm promoted now to a higher grade. 
 These young chaps often abuse the King and say he
 
 102 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 is no use at all, and he costs the country a great deal 
 too much, and so on, but when he shook hands with 
 me and pinned this medal on to my coat, and said, 
 'You are a very brave man, Mr. Briggs, and I'm 
 proud to make your acquaintance,' I didn't think he 
 was no good, I'll give you my word. " 
 
 "Is it that the younger men think the King ought 
 to take a more active part in public affairs?" said the 
 visitor. "Or is it that they think he is a luxury who 
 is rather too expensive?" 
 
 " I don't think they know what they do think, sir, 
 if you ask my opinion. But they are so full of book 
 learning, sir, nowadays, that they must always be 
 growling at something. " 
 
 "It is very mischievous for the country all the 
 same, " said the Minister. 
 
 "Of course it is, sir. And that's why we want a 
 strong Government that won't give in to them. 
 But the situation is very serious, sir. They are all 
 ready to come out as soon as the League gives the 
 signal; and I also hear that the miners, the dockers, 
 the postmen, and the police are only waiting for the 
 signal." 
 
 "In other words," said the Minister, "we stand 
 upon the verge of civil war. " 
 
 "Yes, sir, I am afraid that is so." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Briggs, if I come to Derby and address a 
 meeting, what is it going to profit the country now? "
 
 THE CRISIS 103 
 
 "It will strengthen the hands of us Centre men r 
 who are doing all we can to hold the hotheads 
 back a bit. " 
 
 "I see!" 
 
 "Suppose you promise to go, my dear Mr. Draper," 
 said the visitor. "Derby seems to need you rather 
 badly." 
 
 The Minister pondered. 
 
 "Yes, sir," he said at length, "I will go to Derby 
 if it is your wish. You would like me to come 
 soon?" he said to Briggs. 
 
 "Yes, sir, the sooner you come the better for 
 everybody." 
 
 "Very well. I will address a meeting this day 
 week. " 
 
 "Thank you very much, sir," said Briggs. "You 
 will help Derby and you will help England too." 
 
 As Briggs was about to withdraw he took a very 
 shrewd look at the third person in the room. 
 
 "We have met before, sir," he said. 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Briggs," said the visitor, rising and 
 offering his hand cordially, "and I am proud to 
 meet you again. You are a very brave man and 
 I rejoice that you have the welfare of your country 
 at heart. But I want you to forget that you have 
 met me here. A King, you know, is not allowed to 
 have any politics. " 
 
 "I can't do that, sir," said Briggs. "I shall
 
 104 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 never be able to forget having met such a good and 
 true gentleman. But I shall not speak of it, sir, to 
 anybody, I'll promise you that. " 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Briggs. You will be rendering 
 both Mr. Draper and myself a service." 
 
 "I'm sure I'm very proud, sir. But I'd just like 
 to say one thing, if you don't think I'm taking too 
 much on myself. " 
 
 "Pray speak without reserve, Mr. Briggs. Mr. 
 Draper, I feel sure, will treat your opinion with the 
 highest respect. " 
 
 "Thank you very much, sir. What I would like 
 to say is this: Mr. Grundy and Mr. Mauleverer 
 are good men no doubt, but this is the man the 
 country wants and it won't be happy till it gets him." 
 
 The brawny hand of the President of the Engine 
 Drivers' Association descended somewhat heavily 
 upon the shoulder of the Minister. And then with 
 a robust, "Good evening, gentlemen," Joseph Briggs 
 affected a rolling exit from the room. 
 
 Monarch and Minister were left not a little amused. 
 It was the latter, however, who spoke first. 
 
 "When people say to me, sir," he said, "that 
 there is no good manhood left in the country I think 
 at once of the number of Joseph Briggs it contains. 
 One is always meeting them. And they are not 
 confined, sir, to any particular class. " 
 
 "Yes, my dear Mr. Draper, there is still good
 
 THE CRISIS 105 
 
 manhood left in the country. And, as you say, it is 
 to be found in all ranks of life. What we want at 
 this moment is some co-ordinating power which will 
 close up its ranks, which will weld it with some 
 common purpose into a common bond. " 
 
 "That is the country's need, sir. " The Minister's 
 deep voice had a throb of enthusiasm. "It is 
 calling for a man it can follow. It is calling for a 
 man who can rally all the Joseph Briggs in the land. " 
 
 A deep sadness came upon the worn face of the 
 visitor. 
 
 "How I wish, my dear Mr. Draper," he said, 
 "such powerful and irreconcilable forces had not 
 been raised against you!" 
 
 The Minister laughed rather bitterly. 
 
 "It is a dreadfully unfortunate business for the 
 country at a time like this," said the visitor with a 
 look of pain. "But may I venture to hope you 
 will see your way to attend this momentous meeting 
 of the Privy Council to-morrow morning at eleven 
 o'clock?" 
 
 The Minister's face grew tense. 
 
 "May I exercise my own discretion, sir?" he said 
 after a pause that was somewhat trying. 
 
 "By all means. I would make no suggestion to 
 the contrary. But I am sure there are those who 
 will value your presence. " 
 
 "Thank you, sir," said the Minister, who was
 
 106 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 touched by the tone. "But I feel that my presence 
 there to-morrow will merely serve to embarrass 
 discourse. This intrigue is bound to go on. Noth- 
 ing can stop it now. It will have to run its course. " 
 
 "Yes, one quite feels that. But if you could see 
 your way to attend I should contrive to let it be 
 known that you were present at my desire. More- 
 over, I shall do all in my power to arrest this calumny. 
 But there are unscrupulous tongues at work. It has 
 gone very far. Still one is bound to realize, and I 
 shall hope indirectly to make others realize, that 
 this intrigue is most perilous to the country." 
 
 The Minister stood in silence, his head upthrown. 
 
 "Thank you, sir," he said at last. 
 
 The visitor offered his hand very simply. The 
 Minister took it gratefully. 
 
 "You will go to Derby?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, I will at your desire. And I will go 
 on to Leeds and Newcastle, and the North. It shall 
 be my aim to keep things going until a decision of 
 some kind has been arrived at. " 
 
 " If you do that, my dear Mr. Draper, you will lay 
 your country under a very deep obligation. And 
 in the meantime I will have a talk with the Arch- 
 bishop, and I will also see Rockingham. " 
 
 "Rockingham?" 
 
 "Yes; he is a man of the world. Also, he is very 
 able, and of course a man of the highest probity."
 
 THE CRISIS 107 
 
 The Minister smiled darkly. There was a kind 
 of innocence for which his visitor was famous. 
 
 "In fact, my dear Mr. Draper I tell you this 
 in confidence there is a growing disposition in some 
 quarters to persuade Rockingham to take office in 
 the last resort. " 
 
 "Is he likely to attempt the task, sir?" 
 
 "He might, but unfortunately he is devoid of all 
 personal initiative. 
 
 Again the Minister smiled his dark smile.
 
 XIV 
 
 WHY aren't you at the Privy Council?" asked 
 Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 She had met Mr. Draper by chance in Piccadilly, 
 while she was giving her toy pomeranians an air- 
 ing. It was the morning of the third day of the 
 crisis. 
 
 " I'm not wanted there, " said the Minister bluntly. 
 
 "You oughtn't to say that," said Evelyn, rebuk- 
 ing him with a grave smile. 
 
 "Oughtn't one?" said the Minister, with ill- 
 assumed indifference. "Perhaps you don't know 
 the line they are taking." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham knew perfectly well the line 
 they were taking, but she was far too expert in her 
 own particular genre to betray her knowledge. 
 
 "They?" she said innocently. 
 
 "Yes the whole pharisaical crowd of them." 
 
 "A sweeping generalization, my friend." 
 
 "They are trying to hound me out of public life 
 by the usual Chadband methods, as they did Hor- 
 rocks and Bulstrode, and Graham, and a dozen other 
 
 108
 
 THE CRISIS 109 
 
 The face of Evelyn Rockingham had become 
 suddenly suffused with interest. 
 
 "And She who is She ? Do tell me. " 
 
 She placed a hand charmingly imperious and 
 daintily gloved on the sleeve of Mr. Draper's 
 overcoat. 
 
 "You can't guess! No, of course you can't. 
 Why should you of all people ! It's all so con- 
 temptible. " 
 
 "Don't keep me on the rack any longer," she 
 said piteously. 
 
 She turned aside suddenly to hide the laughter 
 in her eyes. 
 
 "You are She," said the Minister quietly. 
 
 The large and expressive mouth had grown very 
 mobile, but not a word escaped her. 
 
 "Well, what do you think of it?" said the Min- 
 ister. 
 
 "What do I think of it?" 
 
 "Yes, what do you think of it?" 
 
 "Why, I think" somehow her tone seemed to 
 change with the oddest abruptness "I think it is 
 the cleverest, the most dangerous card they could 
 have played." 
 
 "I admire you, my dear Evelyn, for being able to 
 look at the thing like that," said the Minister with 
 that curious simplicity which baffled friends and 
 enemies alike. "I admire your splendid superiority
 
 no 
 
 to the personal equation. I wish I could look at it 
 in that way. To me it is the damnable ruse of a cur 
 and a coward. I would that I knew who had put 
 it about. " 
 
 "What would you do, my dear James?" 
 
 "I would punish him. I would punish him even 
 if it were that self-righteous parson-pedagogue him- 
 self." 
 
 "I am afraid it is somebody much deeper than he. 
 It is somebody who knows the ropes perfectly; some- 
 body who has spent his life in pulling the strings at 
 the psychological moment." 
 
 "Evelyn," said the Minister hoarsely, "you had 
 better not tell me. My God, I'm capable of murder. " 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham in all essentials was a finished 
 woman of the world, but this volcanic outburst 
 made her profoundly uncomfortable. She was bold 
 and quite fearless, but she had far too much intelli- 
 gence to toy with these elemental forces. 
 
 "My dear James," she said, "I don't know. 
 And if I knew, I couldn't tell you." 
 
 "You would have to tell me if you knew. " 
 
 "Well perhaps." 
 
 The answer was soft and charmingly given; the 
 tone was almost careless, but there was a challenge 
 in every line of the fine personality. 
 
 Mr. Draper read the challenge. With a rather 
 awkward laugh he took it up.
 
 THE CRISIS in 
 
 "Yes, Evelyn, if you knew I'd have it out of you. " 
 
 "But I don't, you see," she said quickly. 
 
 "No, of course. And I'm glad." 
 
 She noted that it never occurred to him to 
 doubt her. 
 
 "It's lucky for everybody. In the meantime, on 
 the strength of this despicable calumny, they are 
 going to put me out of public life. And, my God, 
 I'm inclined to let them. " 
 
 The duchess gathered her little dogs to her arms 
 to prevent them impeding the passers-by. 
 
 "My dear James," she said, "aren't you taking 
 it all a little too seriously?" 
 
 "How can you say that!" 
 
 His stern surprise caused her to avert her face 
 quickly. She almost wanted to laugh in spite of 
 the chill that was in her veins. 
 
 "I'm not such an egotistical ass as to think that 
 I matter particularly, when I know I'm innocent. 
 But when they drag a woman I reverence through 
 the mud in order to collect some for me, they are 
 up against a pretty tough proposition in James 
 Draper. 
 
 "Yes, I see." She no longer found it difficult not 
 to laugh at his seriousness. "That's very chivalrous. 
 That's the side that hadn't occurred to me." 
 
 "Naturally. And that's very chivalrous of you." 
 
 "So that's a 'wash-out,' my dear James." She
 
 H2 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 forced a laugh now. "And it simply amounts to 
 this, that we are a pair of extraordinarily chivalrous 
 people." 
 
 However, he was in no mood to suffer a diversion. 
 
 "It doesn't matter what we are," he said. "But 
 if they can't carry on this unpleasant game of 
 politics like gentlemen I've a great mind to make 
 an end at once. " 
 
 "No, not now," she said. "You can't do it now. 
 There's the country to consider; you can't leave 
 that in the lurch." 
 
 "No, of course one can't do that not if they 
 have still a use for me. But they mayn't have, you 
 know, now this card's been played. " 
 
 Her laugh was a little contemptuous. "Before 
 very long they are going bitterly to repent that 
 they've ever played it. Look there!" 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Across the road!" 
 
 A long procession, composed in the main of 
 unemployables and the humbler grades of wage- 
 earners, carrying banners, was walking slowly along 
 the street. Emblazoned on the banners in the too- 
 familiar yellow of the Galloway Press was on one 
 side the legend, "Refer It to the People," and on the 
 other side, "What's a Referendum For?" 
 
 "I'd soon put a stop to that if I could rule," said 
 the Minister with a face of scorn.
 
 THE CRISIS 113 
 
 "What, you reactionary, you would interfere 
 with the free-born English citizen's right of public 
 demonstration! Have you forgotten the Burgess 
 Bill already? Have you forgotten the blood your 
 public-spirited countrymen shed over it?" 
 
 "Yes to tell the truth, I had forgotten that 
 monumental blunder." 
 
 " By no means a blunder from their point of view. 
 They never struck a shrewder blow for the cause 
 of anarchy." 
 
 " You are quite right. And if they referred it to the 
 people, George John Galloway would be elected 
 Prime Minister by a three to one majority." 
 
 "Well, the sands are running out in the glass. 
 If they don't get to know their own minds 
 pretty soon they will be obliged to refer it to the 
 people." 
 
 "You are quite right," said the Minister. "And, 
 after all, it is our time-honoured Saxon way. But 
 somehow that spectacle makes my gorge rise. 
 Upon my soul, I'd like to put a charge of grapeshot 
 into that procession!" 
 
 "A true democrat!" laughed his companion. 
 "A true friend of the people! Do you forget that 
 your name would be an easy second in the People's 
 Referendum?" 
 
 "Don't remind me of it. There they go, holding 
 up the traffic at every point! And marshalled by
 
 ii 4 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 mounted police! And if that obscene thing in the 
 middle doesn't bear the effigy of Galloway!" 
 
 "The people's champion, my friend, the noblest 
 Roman of them all." 
 
 "Oh, it turns me sick," said the Minister. 
 "Come on, let us walk in the opposite direction."
 
 XV 
 
 SO they walked, but not many yards before 
 their attention was arrested by a further 
 affront to the established order, of which they felt 
 themselves to be a part. The eye of the Minister 
 was caught by a newsbill displayed at the corner of 
 Piccadilly Circus. Its legend was large, black 
 and ominous. 
 
 THE CRISIS 
 
 SERIOUS RIOTING IN MANCHESTER 
 GRAVE SITUATION 
 
 Mr. Draper drew the attention of his companion 
 to the news. 
 
 "In Manchester, too!" was her comment; "the 
 home of culture moral, artistic, and sociological." 
 
 Mr. Draper hoped the comment was not ironical. 
 
 "As though one could be ironical at the expense of 
 anything that takes itself so seriously!" she said. 
 
 "Manchester is the touchstone of the country, 
 they always say," said the Minister, whose tone 
 echoed none of his companion's lightness. 
 
 He bought a newspaper. 
 
 s
 
 n6 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "They've started to burn warehouses. It's 
 shameful. My God!" he said grimly, "if they burn 
 warehouses at Manchester to-day, we shall be seeing 
 those tumbrils along Piccadilly to-morrow. " 
 
 "And if we do," said his companion with glowing 
 eyes, "it must all be laid to the door of a mean 
 intrigue. If the country is drenched in blood from 
 end to end it is the price she will have to pay for 
 St. JohnBecher." 
 
 "Oh, him!" the Minister snorted. "It's the 
 other canting hypocrite who carries most of the 
 weight in that crew. Still, 'canting hypocrite' is 
 not very just perhaps," he added, striving for a 
 justness he so often found hard to attain. "I dare 
 say they are all sincere enough, according to their 
 lights. It is part of a bad old tradition, handed 
 down from the bad old Victorian epoch, and, like all 
 bad old things, it dies very hard." 
 
 By this time they had strayed round the corner 
 into Regent Street. 
 
 "Come on to lunch," said Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "There's no particular reason why I shouldn't," 
 said Mr. Draper after a little reflection. "That 
 is, unless you are expecting a lot of people. Some- 
 how I don't feel in the mood to face a crowd. " 
 
 "There will be just ourselves and one other." 
 
 "Who is the other?" 
 
 "Ha!" She grew arch as well as cryptic.
 
 THE CRISIS 117 
 
 "You must play fair. It might be Stephen 
 Cantuar or St. John Becher. " 
 
 "Oh, it's somebody much more interesting than 
 either." 
 
 "It might be Galloway himself." 
 
 The duchess laughed. 
 
 "It's a very good shot," she admitted. 
 
 Mr. Draper was completely lost for a moment 
 in the heavy mantle of reflection which so often 
 enveloped him. 
 
 "Well, what do you say?" she asked at last. 
 
 "He is the most important man in the country 
 just now." Mr. Draper chose each word as though 
 it was a thing of value. "But I hardly see on what 
 grounds I can meet him, or on what grounds he can 
 meet me at present." 
 
 "He'll have no scruples. Besides, ought one to 
 torment one's self with the fine shades at such a time 
 as this?" 
 
 Mr. Draper continued to ponder. 
 
 "I think you are right," he said finally. "The 
 needs of the hour should stand first. I believe the 
 man to be an enemy of the country. To my mind 
 he would look remarkably well on a convenient 
 lamp-post. But there is no mistaking the grip he's 
 got on things on the masses. Yes, I'll meet him 
 - that is, if you feel inclined, my dear Evelyn, to 
 risk a breach of the peace. "
 
 ii8 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Oh, yes, I'll risk it," said Evelyn Rockingham, 
 "like the true patriot I am. It is quite a happy idea. 
 If you are able to control your feelings, no harm 
 can be done by your meeting, and good may come 
 of it." 
 
 "I'm afraid that's impossible. What is there 
 to hope from such a knave? Frankly, Evelyn, at 
 no other time would I have consented to meet him 
 socially. " 
 
 "Why, in your own way, you are as bad as the 
 Archbishop and St. John Becher. It is exactly the 
 same thing, except that it presents itself at a slightly 
 different angle. James, I'm ashamed of you." 
 
 "Yes," said the Minister, "perhaps I'm rather 
 ashamed of myself." 
 
 They walked slowly up the street, lost in talk 
 and heeding none. Their portraits and their plat- 
 form appearance were familiar to the larger half of 
 England. From among the morning crowd of the 
 congested thoroughfare full many a glance was 
 levelled at them. But profoundly unconscious of 
 the attention they excited they kept steadily upon 
 their course. An undercurrent of excitement seemed 
 to flow all about them; the very atmosphere seemed 
 to thrill with a kind of tense expectancy. Sullen 
 eyes and mischievous, brooding faces were on every 
 side; there was an electricity generated by their 
 progress which could be felt. But so completely
 
 THE CRISIS 119 
 
 were they engrossed in talk that they might have 
 been alone. 
 
 Presently they sauntered along a by-street, crossed 
 Bond Street and found themselves before the cheer- 
 less and ugly portals of Rockingham House at five 
 minutes past one. 
 
 Mr. Galloway, who had been invited for one 
 o'clock, had arrived already. His greeting of his 
 hostess was confident and effusive; it was that of a 
 man almost aggressively at home in his rarefied 
 surroundings. 
 
 Mr. Galloway's reception of Mr. Draper was 
 equally confident but not so cordial. He offered 
 his hand to the Minister with an air that was merely 
 ill-bred, although a sensitive person might have seen 
 a calculated rudeness in it. It was as if he would 
 say, "Oh, yes, I know all about you. I know where 
 you started from. You mustn't try to impress me. " 
 
 Women are apt to notice these little nuances if 
 they are in possession of the clou of the comedy. 
 The duchess watched them with a sincere, if artfully 
 dissembled, feminine enjoyment. The meeting of 
 two such doughty champions, strangely alike in the 
 external aspect of their careers, would well repay 
 a little feminine observation. 
 
 They were neither of them "gentlemen" in the 
 purview of the beholder. But one of them at least 
 implied so much more than falls within the scope of
 
 120 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 that rather narrow conventional term. In describ- 
 ing them to a person of her own caste she would have 
 said that "neither of them had an aitch in his 
 composition," a rough and ready description which 
 had the merit of being glaringly inaccurate yet at 
 the same time hitting off what she wished to convey. 
 Indeed, both men used the King's English in quite 
 an educated way. But both of them were so obvi- 
 ously men of the people; and in this spacious inte- 
 rior, "all white marble and precedence," redolent 
 of gold plate and powdered menials, the fact was 
 declared in the one case with a sharpness that was 
 almost cruel, and in the other, if by no means so 
 obvious, in the eyes of Caste was always there. 
 
 Comparing the two, however, as the feminine 
 observer did so relentlessly, the one rose immeas- 
 urably superior to the other. Galloway jarred 
 every fibre of her aristocratic composition. He had 
 not been two minutes in her presence before she 
 would have loved dearly to have had him flung out 
 of doors, his subtle Cockney impertinence was so 
 insufferable. He gave himself airs, he peered into 
 her face, all that he said mordant good sense 
 expressed in banal terms was pitched in entirely 
 the wrong key. The agitator, journalist, and pub- 
 licist was a cad to the marrow, and he had the subtle 
 power of making a woman feel it in her bones. 
 
 Draper, on the other hand, made a very different
 
 THE CRISIS 121 
 
 showing. He had started life at a far humbler level 
 than Galloway. Up till the age of thirteen he had 
 been a "half-timer" at a board school. He had 
 begun life as an errand boy, and had acquired culture 
 at a free library, so that presently he was able to 
 "better himself" by becoming a shop assistant. 
 That additional measure of refinement had brought 
 further opportunities in its train. He had gone up 
 the social ladder step by step, adjusting himself 
 automatically to his surroundings as he went. If he 
 could never be "a gentleman," as Evelyn Rocking- 
 ham understood the term, in all its mystic complexity, 
 her clear, practical intelligence allowed her to see 
 that his genius lifted him to a plane which rendered 
 such distinctions idle and frivolous. 
 
 Draper had none of the superficial faults of 
 Galloway. Nature had cast him in a noble mould. 
 Moreover, he had "manners of the heart," and they 
 showed almost beautifully in comparison with the ar- 
 rogance and the assumption of the minor public school 
 and university product who gave him of his patronage. 
 
 " Well, Draper, how are you these days ? We don't 
 see quite so much of each other now." 
 
 The Minister accepted the almost disdainfully 
 offered hand with a reluctance that he did not try 
 to conceal. 
 
 "No, we haven't seen much of each other lately?" 
 he said, speaking easily and lightly.
 
 122 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Well, I'm very glad anyhow to meet you again," 
 said Mr. Galloway. "In fact, I've rather been 
 wanting to see you." 
 
 At this point her Grace was informed that 
 luncheon awaited them. 
 
 They had the table to themselves. 
 
 "Have you been with the Privy Council this 
 morning?" said Mr. Galloway. "It's still sitting, 
 I suppose?" 
 
 "Yes, it is still sitting I believe, but I've not 
 been there." 
 
 "It's a shocking tangle, eh? Really, myself, I 
 can only see one way out. " 
 
 "What way is that?" asked Evelyn Rockingham, 
 since the Minister did not seem inclined to put the 
 question. 
 
 "They'll have to send for me. " 
 
 "For what purpose, Mr. Galloway?" asked 
 Mr. Draper. 
 
 "To be P. M.," said that gentleman, exploding 
 in a loud laugh which startled the butler and his 
 satellites considerably. 
 
 "No, Mr. Galloway, I don't think they will do 
 that," said Evelyn Rockingham with nicely calcu- 
 lated frankness. 
 
 " Well, I shouldn't be surprised, " said he. " Who 
 else is there?" 
 
 "Evan Mauleverer."
 
 THE CRISIS 123 
 
 "He daren't take office. And if he did, the 
 country wouldn't stand him a fortnight. " 
 
 "How do you know that?" inquired Evelyn 
 blandly. 
 
 "I know everything. Conscription settled Maul- 
 everer's hash." 
 
 "But your loathsome paper the Daily Argus 
 set them on to it, surely?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, we did," said Mr. Galloway calmly, 
 "until we saw which way the cat was going to jump 
 and then we ratted. " 
 
 "As you always do, of course?" 
 
 "Yes, of course. It's no use swimming against 
 the tide. You can't become a power in the news- 
 paper world on those lines, can you Draper?" 
 
 "I'm afraid I'm without knowledge of the sub- 
 ject," said Mr. Draper dryly. 
 
 "Why, you were on the staff of the Daily Argus 
 at one time. " 
 
 "Never on the staff, Mr. Galloway," said the 
 Minister with careful politeness. "I wrote a series 
 of articles for you on the Labour question shortly 
 after I entered Parliament." 
 
 "It's nothing to be ashamed of anyhow. We've 
 the picked brains of the country on the Daily Argus, 
 and we pay top prices for them. " 
 
 "I was certainly well paid." 
 
 "Well, leaving out Evan Mauleverer," said
 
 i2 4 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham, "and leaving out you, Mr. 
 Galloway, because between ourselves I really don't 
 think the premiership is your line of country, it 
 seems to become clearer every day that they will be 
 bound to ask one man in the end." 
 
 "Shafto?" 
 
 "No, he's too weak. Besides, he hasn't the 
 ability." 
 
 "Pollen?" 
 
 "A brilliant lawyer, but he's never really made 
 a mark in the House. " 
 
 "Well, there's no one else except myself." 
 
 "Yes, there is one other." 
 
 "Tell me his name." 
 
 "He is sitting opposite to you." 
 
 "By Jove, Duchess, that's an idea." 
 
 Mr. Galloway exploded again. 
 
 "It's odd that Draper, here, hadn't occurred to 
 me. The very man!" 
 
 The eyes of Mr. Galloway shone with a sudden 
 radiance. The fact that the suggestion presented 
 itself to him in the light of an inspiration was a 
 sufficient refutation, if any were needed, of his vaunt 
 that he knew everything. The people who knew 
 everything politically were only too familiar with 
 the name of the dark horse. Such an exhibition of 
 naivete considerably lowered Mr. Galloway's reputa- 
 tion for omniscience in the eyes of his hostess.
 
 THE CRISIS 125 
 
 "Why, yes," he said, "the very man! Draper, 
 I've a great mind to run you for the premiership." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Galloway," said Mr. Draper 
 in his dry voice. 
 
 "By Jove, Duchess, you've given me an idea. 
 I've half a mind to run Draper for the premiership." 
 
 "You had better make it a whole one, Mr. Gallo- 
 way," said his hostess. 
 
 "Yes, why not! We must see if we can't strike 
 a bargain." 
 
 "A bargain, Mr. Galloway?" 
 
 "Yes, certainly. The Left will want to dictate 
 the terms if they run him." 
 
 "I can make no bargain with anybody, let me say 
 that at once," said Mr. Draper with unstatesmanlike 
 candour, and in spite of the fact that his hostess 
 went to the length of frowning at him. 
 
 "Don't be a fool, Draper," said Mr. Galloway 
 with the directness of speech which in certain 
 quarters conferred a reputation upon him of consum- 
 mate ability. "This is going to be the chance of 
 your life. The Right won't touch you with a barge- 
 pole, you know that. The Centre is frightened to 
 death of you, so if you are not too big a man socially 
 nowadays" Mr. Galloway's sneering laugh was 
 not pleasant "to take up with your old friends, 
 you had better come to us and see what we can do 
 for you. Don't you think so, Duchess?"
 
 iz6 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I think the idea is worth consideration," said she. 
 
 The idea certainly had the merit of stirring Mr. 
 Galloway's acute brain into action. As his habit 
 was, he began to think aloud, independent of time 
 or place. 
 
 "Of course the Conciliation Bill is the crux of the 
 whole matter. If you will promise to reintroduce 
 it immediately there should be no reason, as far as 
 I can see at the moment, why the Left shouldn't 
 forgive your indiscretions." 
 
 "Reintroduce the Bill as it stands?" Evelyn asked. 
 
 "Substantially as it stands. It would have to 
 remain essentially the same, although with the 
 dangerous places nicely glossed over. " 
 
 "Including Clause Nine?" 
 
 "Yes, decidedly. What's the use of the Bill 
 without Clause Nine?" 
 
 "But he threw out the Government on Clause 
 Nine." 
 
 "Yes, he did. And if he puts himself in on it it 
 will be a master stroke. " 
 
 Mr. Galloway laughed loudly and heartily. 
 
 "By Jove," he said, "it's a brilliant idea." 
 
 "But what about his principles, Mr. Galloway?" 
 
 "He'll have to swallow 'em, of course. There 
 never was a man yet who grasped at power who 
 hadn't to swallow his principles. Of course, he 
 must swallow 'em as delicately as possible. The
 
 THE CRISIS 127 
 
 G. P. will help him there. A man can do most 
 things if he's got us at the back of him. " 
 
 "Except remain honest," said Mr. Draper without 
 acrimony. 
 
 "That's taken for granted, of course," said Mr. 
 Galloway with the air of one rebuking a rather 
 flagrant provincialism. "What use have politicians 
 and journalists for honesty? You might as well 
 bring up a Thomas cat on the Ten Commandments. J> 
 
 "Port wine, sir?" said the butler. 
 
 "Please!" said Mr. Galloway. 
 
 "Mr. Galloway," said Evelyn Rockingham, "you 
 have a Machiavellian subtlety. " 
 
 "Oh, no, Duchess, that's mere common sense. 
 If you were in politics or journalism for your heahh 
 it would be a different matter. They are dirty 
 games, both of 'em I don't know which is the 
 dirtier. Of course, the thing is to make your pile 
 as soon as you can and quit, unless, that is, you are 
 cursed like I am with a love of power and then you 
 remain." 
 
 "I see," said his hostess, a little aghast. She had 
 rubbed shoulders with most of the types which had 
 floated to the surface of her world. None realized 
 more fully than she that it took all sorts of people 
 to make it. But this was the first time she had 
 enjoyed the privilege of coming to close quarters 
 with this particular ingredient.
 
 128 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I know what you think, Duchess," he said. 
 "You think I've got a mind like a sewer. So I have. 
 And so must any man have who knows his way about 
 Fleet Street as I do. Politics and journalism are 
 two of the meanest games going, and any man who 
 lives by both of 'em, like Draper and myself, and 
 pretends they are not, is a humbug, and that's all 
 about it. " 
 
 The hostess made a tactful remark. Under cover 
 of it Mr. Draper was able to keep a hold upon his 
 self-control, which was in jeopardy. His stern, 
 deeply marked face had grown tawny. But he was 
 content to answer in a tone of conversational light- 
 ness, and honourably maintained his share of the talk 
 upon the same note. 
 
 "I like the scheme," said Mr. Galloway. "All 
 the morning journals shall sing together provided, 
 that is, we can arrange the terms. Pledge yourself, 
 my dear Draper, to a Conciliation Bill with the 
 present Clause Nine retained in spirit if not in form, 
 and then see what the G. P. can do for you." 
 
 "Why do you insist on Clause Nine?" said 
 Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "It's the keystone of the arch. It's the ace of 
 trumps." 
 
 "It secures the supremacy of Labour for the next 
 hundred years," said Mr. Draper gravely. 
 
 "Exactly."
 
 THE CRISIS 129 
 
 "The trap was very skilfully baited," said the 
 Minister. 
 
 "Yes, the silly fools in the Centre couldn't see 
 what was behind it," said Mr. Galloway, "until you, 
 my dear Draper, pointed it out. By the way, why 
 did you point it out? But I know, of course. " 
 
 "Why did I point it out?" the Minister asked, 
 reining himself in very tight. 
 
 "It was the cleverest move you've ever made, my 
 dear Draper. I always knew in the old days that 
 you had a pretty good head, but I didn't think it 
 was quite equal to that. You had merely to get 
 rid of Grundy to open the door to yourself. And 
 you've managed to do it, by God!" 
 
 "Suppose one doesn't choose to enter the door 
 now that it is open?" 
 
 "That would be merely Quixotic. Wouldn't it, 
 Duchess?" 
 
 The hostess appeared not to hear the question. 
 
 "Yes, of course, it would. But you will have to 
 play the game, my dear Draper. Give us a private 
 assent to Clause Nine, not necessarily for publication, 
 and we will blazon your name forth to the country. " 
 
 "You control the Left, Mr. Galloway," said the 
 duchess. "But what of the Centre, which is com- 
 posed in the main of respectable people ? They hold 
 the balance, and your papers have not much weight 
 with them, I believe."
 
 J3o AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "True," said Mr. Galloway, "but he's got his 
 own following there. His speech in the House the 
 other night has increased it enormously. That's 
 where he is beginning to count. " 
 
 "And you can control the Left?" 
 
 "I think I am entitled to say that I can control 
 it absolutely. " 
 
 The Minister looked the publicist straight in the 
 eyes. 
 
 "Mr. Galloway," he said, "I make terms with 
 none. If it is the clearly expressed wish of the 
 King's advisers that I should undertake the task of 
 forming a Government it will be my duty to give 
 the matter earnest consideration. But not other- 
 wise. I don't court office for the love of office. 
 In fact, in these days, a wise man would prefer to be 
 without it in any circumstances. Still, the impera- 
 tive duty must devolve upon somebody. If by any 
 mischance it should devolve upon me, I pray God 
 that it be given to me to prove worthy of my trust. " 
 
 The expressive countenance of the person to whom 
 this speech was addressed connoted an odd mingling 
 of amusement and disgust. His respect for the 
 manes of good-breeding prevented his saying 
 "Pecksniff" in a voice louder than could reach the 
 receptive ear of his neighbour. But his manner 
 was less discreet. 
 
 "You are taking a rather high tone aren't, you,
 
 THE CRISIS 131 
 
 Draper?" he said. What his tone implied was, 
 "Is it really necessary, my dear fellow, to play out 
 this comedy between old friends? What's the use of 
 trying to humbug a confrere who has watched every 
 phase of your rise from very humble beginnings? 
 It is hopeless, my friend, to attempt to deceive a 
 man as acute as I am." 
 
 "I hope I am taking a high tone, Mr. Galloway," 
 said the Minister quite simply. "The subject at 
 least should demand it. " 
 
 "But, my dear Draper, you are quite Gladstonian. 
 Nay, more than Gladstonian. The Old Man, even 
 in his heyday but I beg your pardon. Forgive 
 my levity." 
 
 Mr. Galloway did not actually wink at his hostess, 
 but he came perilously near to doing so. Mr. Draper 
 withstood all this with unruffled patience. " I hope 
 I am sincere in desiring to serve the true interests 
 of the country," was all he said. 
 
 Before framing his reply, Mr. Galloway looked 
 steadily at Evelyn Rockingham, but received no 
 answering look in return. This non-success, how- 
 ever, did not defeat him. 
 
 "Oh, yes, Draper," he said a little impatiently, 
 "we none of us doubt your sincerity, but isn't the 
 form of it just a leetle out of date. Queen Victoria's 
 dead. Suppose, for a moment, we drop the high 
 moral tone altogether. Let us have a homely,
 
 132 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 heart-to-heart talk. You've a chance of being 
 Prime Minister of England an extraordinarily 
 good chance, it seems to me. And I, George John 
 Galloway, am prepared to go 'nap' on you if you 
 will give me some assurance that you are prepared 
 to play the game." 
 
 "Mr. Galloway," said the Minister with a gravity 
 that incensed his hearer, "I can enter into no com- 
 pact with any representative of a political section or 
 party organization." 
 
 "Oh, but that's nonsense." 
 
 " It may be, in the present phase of opinion, but 
 I make so bold as to think that we are about to see 
 a change. It is not unlikely that the country is 
 thoroughly tired of the party game." 
 
 "We are always hearing of that sort of thing," 
 said Mr. Galloway, suppressing a yawn, "but the 
 party game goes on just the same." 
 
 "At any rate we are in the midst of a serious crisis 
 now," said Evelyn Rockingham. "And the ablest 
 man in the country is needed." 
 
 "Yes, it's pretty serious," said Mr. Galloway. 
 "A shocking muddle in fact. There is a wonderful 
 opportunity for an able and ambitious man. If 
 Draper goes the right way to work he ought to play 
 a very big part. " 
 
 "And you think the right way is to promise the 
 Left that he will reintroduce the Bill?"
 
 THE CRISIS 133 
 
 "I do, undoubtedly. I can answer for the Left 
 if he will give a guarantee. They are well drilled 
 and will go solid. And in the Centre, if my infor- 
 mation is correct, and it is as a rule, he has now a 
 big enough following of his own to turn the scale. " 
 
 "You may be right, Mr. Galloway, or you may 
 not be right," said Mr. Draper bluntly, "but in any 
 circumstances I cannot listen to the proposal." 
 
 "Then you are throwing away an opportunity 
 that can never occur again," said Mr. Galloway, 
 with an air of finality. 
 
 In accordance with his scheme of life, which 
 consisted in parcelling out every moment for some 
 particular purpose, this remarkable man left almost 
 immediately luncheon was over. No sooner was 
 the Minister alone with his hostess than she drew 
 a long sigh of relief. 
 
 "The place will have to be disinfected," she said. 
 
 "The poisonous blackguard!" said Mr. Draper, 
 sombrely. 
 
 "Well, he's shown you a short cut to power at 
 any rate." 
 
 "The poisonous blackguard! And somehow he's 
 so much cruder and so much more limited than one's 
 recollection of him. " 
 
 "When did you meet last?" 
 
 "It must be nearly ten years ago." 
 
 "You have grown since those days."
 
 134 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I hope so," said the Minister with the simplicity 
 that always touched a chord in her. "Life must 
 be a vain business if one hasn't, after all that one's 
 been through. But those days seem very far off 
 just now. That poisonous blackguard, how he 
 brings them back to me! I don't think he's changed 
 much, unless it is that success has made him more 
 unwary." 
 
 "You mustn't speak of such shallow arrogance 
 as success." 
 
 "Oh, but it is, you know. He is the most com- 
 pletely successful man in the country, hence this 
 painful exhibition of himself. " 
 
 "Yes, I suppose he is. And if you feel inclined 
 to play a coup against the noble army of the 
 Pharisees, you have to your hand a ready and 
 valuable tool." 
 
 "God forbid that I should make use of it." 
 
 "Amen!" said his counsellor. 
 
 But she averted her eyes.
 
 XVI 
 
 THE country continued to pass through a period 
 of grave tension. The wise met in council, 
 dissolved, then met again. But no decision could 
 they reach. It seemed beyond the wit of man to 
 bridge the chasm that had opened in the life of the 
 nation. 
 
 Every day that passed, with the King's Govern- 
 ment still in abeyance, strengthened the forces of 
 unrest and gave them boldness. Sedition was openly 
 talked. On every hand the parasites who wax 
 on industrial strife were making the most of their 
 great opportunity. They were beginning boldly 
 to ask the question, If the King cannot carry on his 
 Government, what's the use of the King? 
 
 The deadlock seemed hopeless and complete. 
 It was now known that the Left had nominated 
 Galloway, that the Right had nominated Mau- 
 leverer, and that the Centre, the real brain of 
 the Empire, acutely realized the sheer impossibility 
 of both. By a grievous mischance it had no nominee 
 of its own to run. Grundy, in spite of a year of 
 heroic effort, had proved unequal to the task imposed 
 
 135
 
 136 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 upon him; Bryant, its next ablest man, had no longer 
 the physical vigour; but before the next grave week 
 had passed another name was heard upon the lips of 
 those who were praying for their country. 
 
 The President of the Board of Conciliation went 
 to the headquarters of the railway workers at Derby 
 and made his speech. The next day he spoke at 
 Sheffield, and the following day at Manchester, 
 successfully braving bitter hostility and the threat 
 of bloodshed. Thence he went to Leeds and to his 
 native Newcastle, and Sunday found him addressing 
 a hundred thousand people on a Glasgow football 
 ground. 
 
 Thus it was during that week of suspense, which 
 witnessed the paralysis of trade and the slow gather- 
 ing of the forces of disorder, the country at large 
 came to realize that one man at least was capable 
 of decisive, fearless, and unselfish action. It was a 
 week of noble labour; his magical phrases were 
 flashed from one end of the country to the other; and 
 it was felt in many quarters that one had arisen 
 capable of grasping the tiller of the crazy ship of 
 state. 
 
 For one week at least, in his own simple words, 
 "he had done his best to tide things over." While 
 the heads of the three parties were manucevring for 
 position, confounding issues and poisoning the wells 
 of controversy, he had passed from city to city,
 
 THE CRISIS 137 
 
 imploring the workers not to be led aside from the 
 path of sanity. 
 
 It was a great week's work. He spoke at all hours ; 
 and he spoke until his throat gave out and he could 
 speak no more. Such sincerity, such force, such a 
 grasp of the situation, in all its complexity, made 
 their appeal to all sections of the community who were 
 not drunk with passion or blinded by prejudice. 
 
 He returned from his tour in the North about 
 midday on Tuesday, having travelled throughout 
 the night from Scotland, and when he reached his 
 home in Queen Anne's Gate he was in a state of 
 mental and physical collapse. 
 
 Nicholson the butler welcomed him. The old 
 man's hands trembled as he helped his master off 
 with his overcoat. 
 
 "You've saved the country, sir," he whispered. 
 "God bless you, sir." 
 
 In his overwrought condition the sudden tears 
 sprang to the eyes of the Minister. 
 
 "Thank you, my dear fellow. I hope you may 
 be right. But it's touch and go, you know; it's touch 
 and go." 
 
 "Yes, sir, it is. I beg your pardon, sir, but if 
 I have a fire lit in your bedroom, perhaps you will 
 take a few hours' rest after luncheon?" 
 
 Mr. Draper could not forbear to smile at this 
 solicitude.
 
 / 3 8 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Oh, thank you, "said he, "but I am afraid there 
 can be no rest for me at present. " 
 
 "Well, sir," said the old man, "if you'll forgive 
 the liberty, I hope you will not overtax your strength. 
 Everything depends on you. " 
 
 "No, my dear Nicholson, everything depends 
 on God." The odd humility of the tone was very 
 characteristic 
 
 Hearing his deep tones, the private secretary 
 came out into the hall to greet him. 
 
 "Well, Renshaw," said the Minister, "what of 
 it here?" 
 
 The private secretary pursed his lips and shook 
 his head. The Minister linked his arm through 
 the younger man's affectionately and led him into 
 his room. 
 
 "Tell me all the news," he said as he flung himself 
 on to a sofa. "Are they any nearer to a decision?" 
 
 The private secretary hesitated a little before he 
 answered. 
 
 "Yes, sir, perhaps they are. They have had an 
 inspiration." There was an ironical note in the 
 voice of the young man that somehow made an 
 effect of tragedy. "You'll never guess, sir, what 
 it is?" 
 
 The Minister flung back his head among the sofa 
 cushions with a gesture of utter weariness. 
 
 "Rockingham, I expect."
 
 THE CRISIS 139 
 
 "You are wonderful, sir and at the first 
 shot!" 
 
 "Oh, one kind of felt him in the upper atmosphere." 
 The Minister closed his eyes and breathed heavily. 
 "Oh, it's dreadful, dreadful," he said. 
 
 "Is it the beginning of the end, sir?" 
 
 "Can they persuade him to accept? that is the 
 question. He is by no means a fool. What is the 
 amount of his backing?" 
 
 "He can count on the Right to a man; it is 
 said to be Mr. Mauleverer's suggestion. And the 
 Centre has always respected him, sir, as it does 
 respect a duke. But it is the fact that he made 
 friends with the coal miners, by finding work for a 
 few of them during the coal strike last year, that is 
 thought likely to turn the scale. " 
 
 "But do they seriously consider him to be capable 
 of governing the country?" 
 
 "I think, sir, they regard him as a desperate 
 remedy. The cabal now goes about saying that 
 you, sir, have forgotten Rockingham." 
 
 The Minister sat up on the sofa with a face of 
 anger and scorn. 
 
 "They say I have forgotten Rockingham! Do 
 they, indeed? What incredible meanness and what 
 incredible madness!" He rose from the sofa. 
 His legs were unsteady and his face was haggard. 
 "Renshaw, I think you had better find out if the
 
 140 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 duchess is in town. And if she is, ask her to be kind 
 enough to call this afternoon and I will wait in for 
 her." 
 
 The private secretary went to the telephone, and 
 presently returned with the information that the 
 duchess was expected from the country at four o'clock. 
 
 "Where is Lady Aline?" asked the Minister. 
 "Is she in the country too?" 
 
 "She went to Lady Loring's, I believe, sir, on 
 Friday evening, " said the private secretary. 
 
 "Do you know when she is returning?" 
 
 "No, sir, I do not." 
 
 The Minister touched the bell, and Nicholson 
 promptly answered the summons. 
 
 "Can you tell me, Nicholson, when your mistress 
 returns?" 
 
 "No, sir, I cannot," said the butler, looking very 
 white and old. " She left no word, sir. " 
 
 "Thank you. And by the way, Nicholson, I 
 am going to take your advice. I will have a little 
 luncheon, and then I'll go to bed for a couple of 
 hours." 
 
 "Thank you, sir." The tone of the old man was 
 paternal. "I will have a fire lit at once in your 
 room. " 
 
 "There is no need to do that." 
 
 "Oh, but I will, sir. I would very much like to, 
 sir, if I may."
 
 THE CRISIS 141 
 
 "Oh, very well." 
 
 The butler withdrew. 
 
 "Dear old fellow," said the Minister. "He at 
 least appreciates the gravity of it all. " 
 
 The private secretary, whose mind was cast in 
 a more conventional mould, was inclined to smile.
 
 XVII 
 
 THE Minister had declared his intention of 
 sleeping for a couple of hours. Overwrought 
 nature, however, took him in hand, so that the two 
 hours grew into four, and it was six o'clock when 
 Nicholson roused him. He was informed that the 
 Duchess of Rockingham had called, and awaited 
 him in the library. 
 
 He dressed in haste and then descended to greet 
 her in his usual impulsive fashion. 
 
 " It is good of you, " he said. 
 
 She received him with her frank and charming 
 smile. 
 
 "I am so glad you were snatching a little rest," 
 she said. "You must be worn out." 
 
 "Very nearly," he admitted. "Another such 
 week would kill me. " 
 
 "Well, you have done nobly." 
 
 She offered both her hands. He took only one, 
 and this he bore to his lips with a gesture of homage. 
 
 "And now I am hungry for the news," he said. 
 "Give me all there is. Renshaw says they have 
 actually decided to run my lord duke." 
 
 142
 
 THE CRISIS 143 
 
 He watched her stiffen. There was something 
 other than malice, something other than contempt, 
 in the narrowing of the eyes. 
 
 "Yes," she said, "the incredible happens some- 
 times." 
 
 "It would be a farce, my dear Evelyn," was his 
 comment, "if we were not on the brink of an al- 
 most unrealizable tragedy. Tell me, what are his 
 chances?" 
 
 "His chances are unexpectedly good if he cares 
 to take them. " 
 
 "Yes, one feels that. The Right will go solid. 
 He is one of themselves, although they know his 
 value. And he has always had a curious, an inex- 
 plicable fascination for the Centre. It's his rank, 
 I suppose. Well, it will be a fitting requiem for 
 Britain if the slavish snobbery of her middle class 
 contrives her ruin. A sublime act of poetic justice 
 at any rate. But the question is, Will the Left be 
 able to swallow him? Tell me, Evelyn, how do you 
 feel about that?" 
 
 "Opinions are much divided at present. But, 
 quite frankly, my dear James, I am afraid they 
 might. You see he found employment for some of 
 the miners during the recent coal strike, and he's 
 won the Derby twice. At a pinch they might accept 
 him as a stopgap, provided there is nobody better. " 
 
 " Can he keep the ship off the rocks, do you think?"
 
 144 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Does he realize that?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, one would say he does. He is very clear- 
 sighted in most things." 
 
 "Do you think he will accept office?" 
 
 " It is most difficult to say. He is such an enigma. 
 We none of us know our Rockingham." 
 
 "No, I suppose not. By the way, they say that 
 Caesar is not ambitious. It that your view of 
 Caesar?" 
 
 " I don't think he is ambitious in the way that - 
 shall we say that Evan Mauleverer is, for instance? 
 Our poor dear Robert is always grand seigneur. " 
 
 The Minister smiled. 
 
 "The point is, my dear Evelyn, is such an aristo- 
 crat capable of soiling his lily-white soul with the 
 base cares of office in order to spike the guns of a 
 * Haberdasher '?" 
 
 "I won't answer your question offhand, my dear 
 James. Noblesse oblige is one of those queer diseases 
 that take a man in unexpected ways. We none of 
 us know our Rockingham, and that is all the comfort 
 I can give you at present. " 
 
 "Well, the man is by no means a fool in whatever 
 way his malady may take him. And if we allow 
 a man is not a fool, we have then to hope piously 
 that he is not a knave. " 
 
 "That is to say, my dear James, that poor Robert,
 
 THE CRISIS 145 
 
 being neither a fool nor a knave, is bound to realize 
 that in this pass a Rockingham administration spells 
 ruin for the country. " 
 
 "Stark ruin." 
 
 "Can poor dear Robert be expected to realize 
 that, especially as his backing is likely to be solid 
 and extensive?" 
 
 The worn and haggard look grew more intense 
 on the Minister's face. 
 
 "A Rockingham ministry is madness," he said 
 in a hollow tone, "whatever the amount of its back- 
 ing with the country in its present state. It is sheer 
 criminal lunacy. Have they all completely lost 
 touch with the North?" 
 
 "What it amounts to is this, my friend: the pious 
 advisers of your Sovereign are prepared to risk 
 Robert rather than risk you. " 
 
 "Then curse their eyes!" The Minister yielded 
 suddenly to an uncontrollable and rather hyster- 
 ical gust of anger that brought him to the verge of 
 tears. 
 
 She gave an adroit turn to the conversation. 
 
 "Where is Aline, by the way?" she asked. 
 
 "At her Aunt Loring's, I believe," said the 
 Minister, recovering his self-possession. "She went 
 there on Friday." 
 
 "When does she return?" 
 
 " I don't know. She has not written to me. "
 
 146 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 A faint shadow of embarrassment had crept over 
 the face of Lady Aline's husband. 
 
 "Evelyn," he said in a rather odd tone, "I am 
 going to make you a little confidence. " 
 
 His look of pain made her heart beat quickly. 
 
 "Aline and I seem to have been drifting apart 
 lately. Something seems to have come between us. 
 I am afraid we didn't part friends." 
 
 Her eyes were unfathomable 
 
 "I was strongly opposed to her going to the 
 Lorings'. They and their set are quite out of 
 sympathy with me. I told Aline that it wasn't loyal, 
 and I particularly hoped she wouldn't go." 
 
 'And she took it ill?" 
 
 "Yes, she took it ill." 
 
 His voice was that of a man who had been cut to 
 the heart. "She said some cruel things. In fact, I 
 didn't quite realize how cruel they were at first." 
 His voice broke rather queerly. "My head was full 
 of the Derby speech at the time. But after all, my 
 dear Evelyn, why should I bore you with all this?" 
 
 "Please tell me, James, just what you said to her." 
 
 "I merely said it was disloyal to accept the 
 Lorings' invitation when all England knew how 
 contemptuously they judged me." 
 
 "And what was her answer to that?" 
 
 "Her answer was to accept the invitation." The 
 voice of the Minister failed suddenly.
 
 THE CRISIS 147 
 
 "Well, don't judge her too harshly," she said. 
 "It is only pretty Fanny's way, although it is a very 
 naughty way, and she deserves to be whipped. 
 At any rate, we must hope she will return before 
 the end of the week. " 
 
 "Why must we hope that?" 
 
 "Loring has called a week-end meeting of the 
 cabal to consider Robert's nomination. " 
 
 "Ha!" 
 
 "She certainly ought not to be there then, don't 
 you think?" 
 
 "I quite agree." 
 
 "You say she went down on Friday to the Lor- 
 ings'?" 
 
 "So I am informed." 
 
 "And I am informed that my wicked husband 
 went there on Friday also." 
 
 "Oh, yes, he is always at Cloudesley. " 
 
 The tone of indifference rather took her aback.
 
 XVIII 
 
 DUCHESS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HONOURABLE 
 MRS. GEORGE GLEN-MAITLAND 
 
 MY DEAR LAURA: I sit down at midnight, 
 as usual, to bore you to tears with a mind dis- 
 traught. Let it stand this time for my excuse that 
 within the last hour I have passed through a very 
 strange experience. It has left me breathless and 
 rather bruised. It is not like "life" at all as you and 
 I understand it. The whole thing seems to belong 
 to the boards of a theatre or the pages of a very 
 second-rate novel. 
 
 Odd and unnatural as the matter is, however, 
 there is a something about the whole affair which 
 has shaken me as I have never been shaken before. 
 I am going to try to give you the thing exactly as it 
 occurred, not so much, my dear, for your information 
 as for my own ease of mind. It is a very strange and, 
 to me, rather terrible matter. 
 
 Let me write down the incident in detail exactly 
 as it came to me. 
 
 It was about a quarter to eleven. I was sitting 
 
 148
 
 THE CRISIS 149 
 
 here in this room which we both love so well, and 
 instead of giving thoughts to bed I had allowed 
 myself to become absorbed by B.'s latest novel. 
 I was thinking what a wonderful power the man had; 
 I was thinking how the times were changing; I was 
 thinking, my dear, how little "the frills" of life 
 from which you and I have suffered all our born days 
 really matter when one comes down to the bed- 
 rock. Human nature seems to amount to just about 
 the same in a slum in the Midlands as it does at 
 Rockingham House or Glen Iver, N. B. 
 
 Well, who should disturb this profound thought 
 but Harpole. You know the man I mean 
 wooden, stupid, pompous, the archetype of a ducal 
 servant. He came in more wooden, stupid and 
 pompous than usual; and after a certain amount 
 of hesitation and circumlocution he was able to 
 inform me that "a Mr. Nicholson in the service 
 of Lady Aline Draper would take it as a most par- 
 ticular favour if I would consent to see him in. 
 private." 
 
 "Certainly," I said. "Show him up here." 
 
 Somehow I felt impregnated with the spirit of a 
 B. novel; a delicious sense of romance seemed to 
 possess me. 
 
 Well, my dear, as soon as Mr. Nicholson entered 
 I recognized him at once. It was my old friend 
 Mr. D.'s butler; the old man with whom I have
 
 ISO AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 continual skirmishes in order to get access to the 
 Presence. 
 
 But as soon as the old fellow came in, twisting his 
 hat nervously in his hands, and with his shabby 
 overcoat buttoned up to the throat, there was some- 
 thing about him that seemed to send a shock right 
 through me. If I have ever beheld a lost soul this 
 was he. 
 
 I took pity at once on the poor old thing's strained 
 face and white hairs and asked him to sit down. 
 
 "I couldn't think of presuming, your Grace," he 
 said in a voice that I didn't seem to remember. 
 
 But I was firm, and he sat. 
 
 "Now tell me your trouble," I said, with a sincere 
 desire to help him, for he was certainly suffering 
 horribly. 
 
 Of course, I hadn't a thought as to what his trouble 
 might be, and when I learned it it rather took my 
 breath away. 
 
 He was tormented by a dreadful secret. His 
 mistress A., it seemed, had left her husband for good 
 and he alone knew the fact. She had gone to her 
 Aunt Lady Loring's the Friday previous, while Mr. 
 D. was conducting his campaign in the North. She 
 had taken away all her clothes and her jewels, and 
 had left a note for Mr. D. to apprise him of the fact. 
 
 "And this note was left in your care," I asked, 
 "to give to Mr. D. upon his return from Scotland?"
 
 THE CRISIS 151 
 
 He admitted it. 
 
 "And you have not done so?" 
 
 He admitted that also. And then I asked him 
 why he had not, and he said that Mr. D. was so over- 
 wrought when he returned that he was afraid of the 
 effect upon him while he was in that state, and he made 
 use of these prophetic words : " If anything happens 
 to him now there will be an end of everything." 
 
 "But are you not taking a great deal too much 
 upon yourself in withholding that letter?" I said. 
 
 He burst into tears. He was like a man beside 
 himself. 
 
 "I didn't dare to risk it, knowing the state he 
 was in," he said. "He is a man of strong feelings, 
 as your Grace would know. And I feel bound to 
 consider the country." 
 
 I pointed out to him as kindly as I could that it 
 was hardly his place to consider the country. He 
 replied very gently and politely that he felt it to be 
 his duty to consider the country. 
 
 I was forced to differ; but he bowed his noble 
 gray head it is a noble head in dissent, and he 
 looked so piteous that I felt near to tears myself. 
 
 "You have withheld the letter," I said. "And 
 what, pray, do you propose to do with it? Do you 
 intend to destroy it?" 
 
 He spread out his hands -long, thin, beautiful, 
 the hands of a poet.
 
 152 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "No, whatever happens I shall not destroy it. 
 It is not mine to destroy." 
 
 "Nor is it yours to withhold," I said. 
 
 He allowed it was not. "But I hope God will 
 forgive me," he said. "I have withheld it in the 
 hope of saving the country." 
 
 He sat like one transfigured, his face furrowed 
 with tears. 
 
 "But your master is bound to find out the truth." 
 
 "Yes," he said, "but I feel that if we can only 
 tide over the next few days, while this great crisis 
 passes, he will be able to deal with this matter as 
 those who love England, as those who love him, 
 would have him deal with it. " 
 
 I think I have never felt so touched in my life as 
 by those simple words and the way in which they 
 were spoken. 
 
 "Then it is not fear of the consequences of your 
 action that has brought you to me?" 
 
 "No," he said. "I do not think about myself. 
 If my master, Mr. D., can save the monarchy I 
 would gladly die to-night." 
 
 "You think it has come to that?" 
 
 "Yes," he said, "I do. I have watched this 
 thing growing year by year. I have been in the 
 service of three prime ministers; my life has been 
 spent, as it were, in the inner circle. A knowledge 
 of many things has been granted to me. A power
 
 THE CRISIS 153 
 
 above myself has compelled me to withhold this 
 letter from my master until this week is out, and 
 -and- -" 
 
 His voice broke hysterically. 
 
 "What is the power that has compelled you?" 
 
 "It is God," he said. "At least it is what I 
 understand by God. But I have never been a 
 really deeply religious man. And now to-night all of 
 a sudden, something seems to have snapped inside 
 me and and 
 
 He swayed to and fro in a kind of torment. 
 
 "And I want the help of some one who is stronger 
 and better and wiser than myself." He buried 
 his face in his hands. "To-night, I feel if I once 
 let go I shall go mad." 
 
 I was too shattered to speak. Somehow I felt 
 I was being dragged into psychical regions which 
 wise people keep as far away from as they can. 
 
 "Has something happened to-night which has 
 taken away your nerve?" I asked at last. 
 
 He confessed that such was the case. His master 
 had written a letter to his wife in the country and 
 had given it to him to post. 
 
 "What have you done with the letter? Did 
 you post it?" 
 
 "No," he said. "I did not post it. A voice 
 seemed to tell me not to do so. I have it here in my 
 pocket along with the other one."
 
 154 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "To whom do you ascribe the voice?" 
 
 "If I were a deeply religious man, I should take 
 it to be the voice of the Most High. " 
 
 "Are you not deeply religious?" 
 
 "I am religious in a manner of speaking, but 
 deeply religious, I am not. If I were deeply religious 
 I should not be afraid of going too far. " 
 
 "That is to say, that had you been a deeply 
 religious man you would still have acted as you did, 
 but you would have kept your own counsel until 
 you felt the time had come to make a full confession 
 to your master?" 
 
 "Yes, that is what I should have done had I 
 been able to walk close with my God. " 
 
 "Is it, then, that you are afraid of what you have 
 done?" 
 
 "Yes, I am afraid. Not for myself or not because 
 I have done wrong. But not having enough strength 
 within me I feel that I am being pressed beyond my 
 limit, and in the name of the country I ask you 
 to help me." 
 
 I, too, had the sensation then of being pressed 
 beyond my limit; I, too, at that moment felt an 
 acuter need of a vital, personal religion than I had 
 ever felt before. 
 
 "But how can I help you?" I said at last, feebly. 
 "What can I do? I understand your motive, but 
 I dare express no opinion upon it. You have acted
 
 THE CRISIS 155 
 
 as you think right in the circumstances. I dare not 
 say you have done wrong." 
 
 He rocked his frail body to and fro in a way that 
 was painful to see. 
 
 "If you can say I have done right," he said, "I 
 can go on." 
 
 "And if I cannot say it?" And I felt a sudden, 
 terrible tightening of the throat as I asked the 
 question. 
 
 "Well!" He closed his eyes piteously and spread 
 out his hands. " I feel that everything will go. " 
 
 "That is to say, you will confess to your master?" 
 
 "No, I don't mean that," he said. "But what 
 I feel is that unless you can sustain me a little I 
 
 He covered his face. 
 
 "Haven't you been sleeping lately?" I asked. 
 
 He said he had not. 
 
 "Since when?" 
 
 "My head has not touched a pillow since last 
 Thursday morning. " 
 
 I asked the reason. With great reluctance he 
 confessed that a certain person, whom I did not 
 ask him to name, had spoken words to his mistress 
 in his hearing which had prepared him for that 
 which was about to happen. 
 
 "What steps did you take?" 
 
 " I could do nothing. "
 
 1 56 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "No, of course you couldn't." 
 
 "Beyond imploring her upon my knees to reflect 
 upon her action." 
 
 "And that had no effect?" 
 
 "No, but I could see she thought I was mad. 
 And I almost thought I was myself, except that 
 when a man thinks he's mad they say he isn't. " 
 
 "But you tried by every means in your power to 
 restrain her out of love for your master, and out 
 of love for your country?" 
 
 "Yes, your Grace. But I was only a servant, 
 and my prayers were not heard." 
 
 "And on Friday morning she left the house fully 
 determined never to return?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "At the instance of the person whom you have had 
 occasion to mention already?" 
 
 "I would prefer to express no opinion upon that, 
 if you will permit me. " He spoke as only a gentle- 
 man could have done. 
 
 Somehow I felt quite unnerved. This was a poor 
 lost soul. He seemed beyond human aid. His 
 eyes haunt me as I write. As he himself expressed 
 it, when his master gave him the letter to post he had 
 been pressed beyond his limit; and there he sat, 
 bereft of his will. 
 
 "Tell me," I said, "is it that you feel that your 
 master is not strong enough to meet this crisis in
 
 THE CRISIS 157 
 
 his own life, while the fate of the country hangs in 
 the balance?" 
 
 "That is what I feel." 
 
 "But may you not be mistaken?" 
 
 "Perhaps I may. But I dare not take the risk. 
 A man can only judge by his own strength when he 
 acts in the place of another. " 
 
 "That is to say, you would be unequal to the task 
 of coping with such a crisis in your own life at such 
 a moment in the life of the nation?" 
 
 "I think no man would have the strength. And 
 I believe that is a fact that might weigh with his 
 enemies." 
 
 "You think this business of your mistress is part 
 of a plot to ruin him politically?" 
 
 " I am not entitled to say that. " 
 
 "But you fear it?" 
 
 "I hope you will not insist on an answer to the 
 question." 
 
 I did not. And I felt bound to respect him the more. 
 
 As I sat facing him a tragic helplessness seemed to 
 numb me. What could I do? What advice could 
 I give? He had made me see that his conduct was 
 based on a high instinct, which I had neither the 
 strength nor the courage to deny. Had my life 
 depended on it, as I sat watching his emotion, I 
 could not have said whether he had acted rightly 
 or wrongly.
 
 158 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "You have come to me," I said, "because you 
 want somebody to share the responsibility of your 
 action?" 
 
 "Yes," he said. "I ask you to help me to pass 
 through this terrible crisis in the life of the nation. " 
 
 "Is it that there is any specific thing you would 
 ask me?" 
 
 "Yes, there is one thing," he said. "If you 
 approve of my action I ask you to take charge of 
 these letters." 
 
 He unbuttoned his overcoat and produced the two 
 letters from an inner pocket. Then he rose and put 
 them on the table. 
 
 I hope I have no superfluity of copybook morality. 
 I hope I am neither a prig nor a coward, but when 
 thus he asked me to bear a part in his crime I felt a 
 sudden nausea. He may have been right, he may 
 have been wrong; I do not judge him, nor shall I ever 
 be able to judge him, but somehow the sight of those 
 letters seemed to show me the way for us both. 
 
 "Nicholson," I said, "it is reasonably clear that 
 your God has imposed a task upon you beyond your 
 present strength. Had you been equal to the task 
 you would have kept your own counsel, you would 
 not have come to me for countenance. But since 
 you have sought my advice, I will give it as far as 
 I am capable, by the light of that reason which is no 
 more than the counterpart of your own. We are the
 
 THE CRISIS 159 
 
 creatures of Fate. We must be content to be the 
 creatures of Fate. If it be the will of Providence 
 that an instrument has been appointed to deliver 
 our beloved country from its peril, it lies neither in 
 your power nor mine to retard or advance its design. 
 Neither you nor I can know what reserves of strength 
 your master may possess. God alone can know that. 
 But if He has chosen him to deliver our country, 
 whatever his enemies may do to him, He will see him 
 through. " 
 
 I don't know that my words had any particular 
 wisdom; I don't think they were the fruit of any 
 particular faith alas! I am no nearer to God 
 than the majority of my generation they simply 
 shaped themselves on my lips without any conscious 
 volition, but their effect was greater than I could 
 have hoped or foreseen. The poor old man sprang 
 from his chair as though some secret spring had been 
 pressed in his heart. 
 
 "My faith has not been great enough," he said. 
 "When Mr. D. has recovered a little I will give him 
 the letters. I thank you from the bottom of my 
 heart." 
 
 He took up the letters and buttoned them inside 
 his coat, and then he prepared to leave. But I felt 
 that I could not let him go without some attempt at 
 a consolation it was not in my power to give. I 
 assured him that whatever happened to him, or to
 
 i6o AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 his master, or to the country, he would always have 
 my respect. That seemed to comfort him; and then 
 very shyly and humbly he asked me if I would mind 
 praying with him a little and I did ! 
 
 . . . Yes, my dear Laura, it has been by far 
 the strangest experience I have ever passed through. 
 It has also been a rather harrowing experience. 
 As I write this for the relief of an overwrought mind 
 and it is all so horribly intimate that I don't 
 suppose this letter will go to the post, although we 
 have shared almost every thought we have had in 
 our lives the feeling uppermost in my heart, now 
 that I am left alone with my emotions, is, that after 
 all, I may not have acted right. Some high power 
 may have possessed the noble soul enclosed in that 
 frail vessel; some divine instinct may have inspired 
 him to find the way out for us all. 
 
 The episode has shattered me for the time being. 
 I, too, am horribly tormented. But in these kinds 
 of crises we act automatically; and whether we do 
 right, or whether we do wrong, we cannot go against 
 our natures. 
 
 Mr. D. was much overdone when I saw him this 
 evening. His week's labour for the country would 
 have taxed a Hercules. A quarter of a million 
 people have learned the sound of his voice. He is 
 completely worn out. I am wofully afraid of the 
 consequences, yet for good or ill the die is cast.
 
 THE CRISIS 161 
 
 Never have I felt such a need of strength as now. 
 I, too, am being driven beyond my limit. 
 
 We all feel this need of God: poor Nicholson and 
 I, the humble servants of the chosen instrument, 
 and he, the God-appointed one, yet more than any. 
 Perhaps our country would not have been brought 
 to this pass had she walked with Him lately as of old. 
 Are we to be one with Nineveh and Tyre? Has it 
 been left for one woman as weak and frail as myself 
 to undo all? No, I cannot think so. O ye of little 
 faith! Those five precious little words are now my 
 only stay. The cabal has now fixed upon R. It 
 meets at Cloudesley this week-end. It is a bitter 
 and tragic irony. I refuse to believe that such a 
 makeshift Government can be called into being. 
 Still, those whom the gods would destroy 1
 
 XIX 
 
 MR. DRAPER rose late on the morning after 
 his return. Noon was approaching by the 
 time he was seated at his writing-table in his room. 
 
 The eyes of the butler had already carefully noted 
 his appearance. Had he slept? The old man tak- 
 ing his courage in his hands, had already ventured 
 to ask the question, and had met with a cordial and 
 reassuring answer. 
 
 With the servant it was far otherwise. He had 
 not slept, nor had he attempted to do so. He was 
 still overborne by a sense of destiny. But this morn- 
 ing he was calm and fixed of purpose. In whatever 
 light his action was viewed he was now secure of soul. 
 
 His master had had a good night that was the 
 determining factor. Compared with yesterday he 
 was looking braced and alert this morning. Nichol- 
 son decided that twelve o'clock must be the hour. 
 
 Man proposes! At five minutes to twelve the 
 dethroned Prime Minister called to see his late 
 colleague. 
 
 Mr. Grundy was a man about sixty. He was of 
 the middle height, inclining a little to stoutness, 
 
 162
 
 THE CRISIS 163 
 
 presenting no very striking point in his personality 
 beyond a rather fine head and a calm, paternal 
 smile which lent him an appearance of great wisdom. 
 
 It must be allowed that his habit of mind did no 
 injustice to this outward portent. By many he was 
 thought to be the wisest man in the kingdom. He 
 was cautious, calculating, impartial, a little sophisti- 
 cal perhaps on occasion, but subject to fine flashes 
 of candour, superbly accessible to all sorts and con- 
 ditions of men, and with the rare gift of pleasing all 
 with whom he was brought in contact. He had 
 earned the respect of all sections of the community. 
 As a leader he was lacking in inspiration and authen- 
 ticity, but he was a man who had deserved well of 
 his country, and his country was by no means insen- 
 sible of its obligation. Had he only possessed a 
 little more courage, a little more initiative, that dual 
 endowment without which all leadership is vain, the 
 present state of chaos might not have arisen. 
 
 It was the first meeting since the tragic event of the 
 dethroned leader and the man who had wrecked his 
 second administration. 
 
 Mr. Draper rose from his writing-table as soon as 
 his visitor was announced and sprang forward with 
 hand outstretched to greet him. The older states- 
 man accepted the hand without the slightest reserve 
 or arriere-pensee. 
 
 "I feel it to be so kind, so good of you to call upon
 
 164 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 me," said the younger man with the impulsiveness 
 which endeared him to his friends. Moreover, there 
 was a ring of genuine affection in the tone. It was a 
 quality his chief had always inspired in those who had 
 worked with him. 
 
 "Business, business, my dear fellow," said Mr. 
 ! Grundy with a charming air of brusquerie another 
 of his assets. " Last night we dined in high places, my 
 wife and I. Naturally the conversation turned upon 
 you and your wonderful week's work. The Fountain 
 of Honour desires to thank you personally. I said I 
 would bring you along this morning if you were 
 available. But don't come unless you feel equal to 
 it, because I am afraid we shall be expected to stay 
 to lunch." 
 
 " I consider it in the light of a great honour," said 
 the younger man. 
 
 Mr. Grundy's comically quizzical face denoted 
 resignation. 
 
 "Well, he's easier to talk to than his father was. 
 He can see a joke at least, that is to say, there 
 are traces of an incipient sense of humour in a rudi- 
 mentary state. And, of course, a Christian gentle- 
 man always a Christian gentleman. He's a dear 
 .fellow, really, I always think." 
 
 " I am glad you think he is a Christian gentleman," 
 said Mr. Draper. "That is always the impression 
 he makes on me."
 
 THE CRISIS 165 
 
 "Yes, always that to me. The type is not ex- 
 tinct as long as we have him. I wish people could 
 be made to realize it. And a rather shrewd fellow 
 withal in some ways." 
 
 "I am so glad you think that." 
 
 "I am not here to flatter you, Draper, but he's pro- 
 foundly grateful for what you have done." 
 
 "For throwing us over the precipice?" 
 
 "No, not for that. For your splendid effort to pull 
 the thing to rights. He has read your speeches and 
 marked your progress, and under the guidance of 
 Heaven he thinks you may save us yet." 
 
 The younger man was touched by the elder states- 
 man's generosity. 
 
 "Thank you, Grundy," he said. "You don't 
 know what it means to me that you should come and 
 tell me this." 
 
 "I think we can all rejoice, my dear fellow, that 
 he is such a good and sensible man. And my feeling 
 is this, if those inflated fools on the Right who are so 
 devilish full of themselves can only be persuaded to 
 let him alone, his own instinct and, after all, it 
 ought to be a pretty sound one can be trusted to 
 find the way out." 
 
 "Grundy," said the other, his deep voice vibrating 
 with emotion, "I am more than rejoiced to hear you 
 say that." 
 
 "I may be mistaken, of course. But that is the
 
 166 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 impression he gave me last night. He is quite able 
 to do a little thinking for himself; and of course he 
 has the inestimable advantage of being outside it all." 
 
 " You feel that he may have a mind of his own?" 
 
 " I hope and pray that he has." 
 
 " By the way, is there any ground for this rumour 
 in respect of the cabal?" 
 
 "Rockingham? Yes, I'm afraid." 
 
 "Is it conceivable?" 
 
 "He's won the Derby twice, you know." 
 
 "Well, he's no fool, that must be said for him. 
 And if only he had sincerity, upon my soul we might 
 do worse." 
 
 "The ' if ' is too big, my dear fellow. The thing has 
 been played up so high on both sides, that it is only 
 absolute good faith that can save the whole bag of 
 tricks from being blown up to the moon." 
 
 "Do you think he could play straight for once 
 in an emergency?" 
 
 "Not he! A man can't go against his blood. It 
 is the ablest and the foulest blood in England. You 
 never knew his father, old R. ? He was the sort of 
 man you wouldn't care to meet in a lonely lane on a 
 dark night if you had a fiver on you and his rent- 
 roll was two hundred thousand a year." 
 
 "I suppose if one is born crooked one is bound to 
 go crooked." 
 
 "It would appear to be so in his case at any rate.
 
 THE CRISIS 167 
 
 Having wearied of every other form of human pleas- 
 ure, scoring a dubious point against an adversary 
 seems to be the only recreation that never fails him." 
 
 "Well, he always seems to convey the impression 
 of being one of the ablest men in the country that 
 is, if he cared to be." 
 
 "Outside his Majesty's gaols," said Mr. Grundy, 
 who was without illusions on the subject of human 
 nature. "The old Lord Chief always used to say 
 that the best brains of the kingdom were kept 
 securely under lock and key. By the way forgive 
 me for calling your attention to it if you haven't 
 seen it, but I rather feel that I ought I am sorry 
 to see that you have had the misfortune to make an 
 enemy of another kind of blackguard. Have you 
 seen the Daily Argus this morning?" 
 
 " I never read it." 
 
 "Well, break your rule. See if they have a copy 
 in the servants' hall." 
 
 The Daily Argus was sent for. 
 
 "There you are," said Mr. Grundy. "In the 
 largest type, if you please, in the form of a leading 
 article: c The Great Lady and the Democrat: a 
 Parable for the Period.'" 
 
 The Democrat read the article with an ashen face 
 and eyes blazing with fury. 
 
 "I wish you hadn't shown it to me," he said. 
 
 The elder man laid a paternal hand on his shoulder.
 
 i68 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Don't be weak, my dear fellow," he said. 
 "Weakness of any kind can't be allowed in you. 
 It is nothing; the bite of a gadfly. Forget it until 
 the time comes and then you can bear it in mind." 
 
 "You are right," said the other, setting his teeth, 
 " I mustn't be weak. At any rate, I'll try not to be. 
 It is worded with skill," he added in a calmer tone. 
 
 "Yes, it is the work of a practised hand. And it 
 comes at the psychological moment. The whole 
 thing is very nicely calculated." 
 
 "Do you think it will do harm?" 
 
 "It is bound to do a certain amount of harm. 
 This is a nation of Pharisees. It gives your enemies 
 an enormous pull just at the time when they can 
 use it best." 
 
 "Do you see the finger of Rockingham in it?" 
 
 "No, let us do him that justice. He is not the man 
 to fraternize with the scum. He has his own private 
 code of friponnerie, but he never forgets that by 
 birth he is a gentleman." 
 
 " I am glad you think that," said the other. "One 
 has rather felt of late that he was not a man likely to 
 be troubled by any kind of scruple." 
 
 "He would draw the line at the G.P., at any rate." 
 
 Mr. Grundy looked at his watch. 
 
 "A quarter to one! A five minutes' walk! I'm 
 afraid that won't give us much of an appetite for our 
 luncheon."
 
 XX 
 
 IT was four o'clock when Mr. Draper returned to 
 his house. His step sounded light in the hall; 
 there was a slight look of defiance in him, as of a man 
 on terms with life. When he entered his room to 
 complete a half-written letter which the arrival of 
 his late colleague had interrupted, he found Evelyn 
 Rockingham there. She was smoking a cigarette 
 and reading the Daily Argus. 
 
 Nicholson in receiving her had not thought fit to 
 enlighten her as to whether the secret had yet been 
 divulged. One glance at the Minister as he entered 
 told her that it had not. 
 
 She held up the newspaper. 
 
 "Will it do harm?" she asked. As she spoke she 
 watched his face with covert but anxious eyes. 
 
 " Grundy thinks it may do a little," he answered, al- 
 most in a tone of indifference. " Personally, I don't." 
 
 She drew a deep sigh of relief. 
 
 "I am glad you take that view." 
 
 "One may be wrong, of course, but the whole thing 
 seems to be keyed up far too high for a matter of 
 that kind to take any hold on events." 
 
 169
 
 1 70 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 " I feel sure of it. Is there any fresh development?" 
 
 The Minister did not reply immediately. 
 
 " Several," he said at last. "Grave developments. 
 Grundy and I have been talking things over with a 
 certain person the last three hours." 
 
 "Grundy and you!" 
 
 "Yes, the lion and the lamb. Misfortune, you 
 know, makes strange bedfellows." 
 
 The gravity of the Minister began to oppress her. 
 
 "Tell me what has happened?" she said. 
 
 "Well, in the first place, Rockingham has been 
 asked to form a Government." 
 
 She blanched a little. But her self-control was 
 complete. 
 
 "When was he asked do you know?" 
 
 "On Saturday, I believe." 
 
 "Has he accepted?" 
 
 "No; he has asked for a week in which to consider 
 his decision. He has been given until Monday at 
 noon." 
 
 "After the week-end meeting of the cabal?" 
 
 "Yes, I suppose. They meet, I understand, at the 
 King's suggestion." 
 
 "But isn't the whole scheme impracticable? On 
 what basis can Robert form a Government?" 
 
 "Well, the scheme is this it is the King's own, 
 and he accepts full responsibility for it Rocking- 
 ham to be Prime Minister in a new coalition, which
 
 THE CRISIS 171 
 
 is to include Fern and Bayliss of the Left, and also 
 Grundy, Bryant, and myself." 
 
 " But on the face of it, isn't it impossible?" 
 
 "Well, I don't know. There may be something 
 in it. Fern and Bayliss, it seems, are willing to come 
 in, provided a guarantee is given that the first act of 
 the new Government will be to pass the Conciliation 
 Bill, although not necessarily in the precise form in 
 which it stands at present." 
 
 "It seems incredible that Fern and Bayliss can 
 have any place in a Rockingham ministry." 
 
 "Well, it is the King's own idea. He has worked 
 nobly to make it possible, and he has earned respect 
 all round." 
 
 "And Grundy and Bryant and yourself?" 
 
 "Grundy doesn't approve, but if no better scheme 
 can be devised he will not stand in the way. Bryant 
 doesn't see why is shouldn't be tried. Of course the 
 whole thing is a palpable makeshift. But no alter- 
 native has appeared on the horizon at present." 
 
 "And you?" The question was asked eagerly. 
 "How do you feel about it?" 
 
 "Well, I told him bluntly that I didn't see how 
 it was possible for two men to work together each 
 of whom had a profound contempt for the other." 
 
 "Wasn't the good man a little shocked?" 
 
 "Very shocked, I'm afraid. It seemed to come 
 to him like a blow. But it had to be said. It is
 
 172 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 no use trying to mince matters, even if Rome happens 
 to be burning. Still, as I said, my one desire was to 
 keep the thing going, and to that end I would do my 
 best to put my private feelings in my pocket for the 
 time being." 
 
 "What did he say to that?" 
 
 "Both he and Grundy were rather discomposed. 
 It occurred to me that it was perhaps rather selfish 
 and egotistical to feel so strongly when everthing was 
 hanging in the balance. But it is the way I am made. 
 I can't conceal my wound." 
 
 "Is it that you hold Rockingham responsible for 
 this?" 
 
 Her reference was to the Daily Argus, which was 
 still in her hand. 
 
 "Yes, indirectly. And if one day I can punish him 
 without punishing others I intend to do it." 
 
 "But in the meantime you consent to sink the 
 personal equation in the common good?" 
 
 "As far as it may be possible to do so. I said I 
 would do my best. Thereupon Grundy and I were 
 asked to do down on Sunday to confer with the 
 cabal." 
 
 "You at Cloudesley!" 
 
 "Yes by command. It all seems rather ironical. 
 By the way, Aline is still there and I've had no word 
 as to when she intends to return." 
 
 "When did you see her or hear from her last?"
 
 THE CRISIS 173 
 
 "I last saw her ten days ago, when I set out for the 
 North. And I've heard no word of her since. But 
 to return to this proposal that we should go down 
 to Cloudesley on Sunday. I should have much pre- 
 ferred a meeting here in London; but every hour 
 counts, and the thing is to be kept as secret as pos- 
 sible until all the details are adjusted, so that the 
 whole scheme can be laid dramatically before the 
 country." 
 
 "Why dramatically?" 
 
 "In order to drive home, I suppose, its far-reaching 
 significance to the bosoms and the businesses of men." 
 
 "Then it is fait accompli ?" 
 
 "Yes, I fear, unless there is a hitch at the eleventh 
 hour." 
 
 "Have you actually given your decision?" 
 
 "No, I have not. I have asked for forty-eight 
 hours in which fully to consider the proposal. I 
 found it impossible to decide at once. In fact, I 
 was not asked to do so. It may be, after all, that 
 the old Adam will prove too much for my patriot- 
 ism." 
 
 As the conversation proceeded Evelyn Rockingham 
 had become increasingly perplexed, increasingly 
 unhappy. And now she gave expression to the 
 thought that was dominating her mind. 
 
 "There is one thing I see clearly," she said. "It 
 is that you have broken through their defences.
 
 174 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 They have done all in their power to keep you out, 
 but it has now been brought home to them that you 
 are indispensable to any Government that may be 
 formed. That being the case, why not dictate your 
 own terms instead of accepting theirs." 
 The Minister pondered. 
 
 "The point is an important one," he said. "And 
 you are very probably right. At any rate I have 
 given no definite answer; I stand pledged to nothing. 
 Certainly I don't intend to enter a Rockingham min- 
 istry unless I am thoroughly convinced that there is 
 no alternative which can avail the country." 
 
 "But there is an alternative. This is their method 
 of confessing the unpalatable fact that you are indis- 
 pensable. Why not form your own Government on 
 your own terms?" 
 
 The Minister shook his head and smiled rather 
 sadly. 
 
 "That is a large order. This thing must be 
 thought out. In the meantime every hour counts. 
 There are a number of alarming developments in 
 the country. There are all kinds of rumours in 
 circulation. It is said that the League has carefully 
 prepared its plans for a great coup, and that it may 
 play it at any moment. We may be in the throes 
 of civil war by the end of the week." 
 
 "Well, poor dear Robert, as I read his character, 
 is not the man to cope with it."
 
 THE CRISIS 175 
 
 "No, but the point is that the blow has not yet 
 fallen. If we can only contrive to patch up an 
 honourable truce before it does, so much the better 
 for us and so much the worse for the League." 
 
 "Yes, but the blow has been predicted any time 
 these two years." 
 
 "Well, here is its opportunity. And we can't 
 afford to delay." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham rose from her chair. Her 
 face was vivid with excitement. 
 
 "Yes, one quite sees that. One respects your 
 scruples. One understands that you don't play for 
 yourself. But the point I want to urge is, that if 
 you do play for yourself you play for the country." 
 
 Again he shook his head. 
 
 "That is where I am by no means so clear. Splen- 
 did work has been done during the past week. The 
 King has shown himself to be a statesman of a high 
 order. He has made his wishes clearly known and 
 if it is possible to respect them one feels that sacrifices 
 should be made to that end." 
 
 "Yes, I quite see that," she said tensely. "But 
 the point is, who can help the country most you 
 or Robert?" 
 
 "They evidently think Robert." 
 
 "They," she said contemptuously. "They know 
 they are beaten and are now playing to save their 
 faces. Robert means nothing to anyone; he stands
 
 176 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 for nothing; he has never done a hand's turn for the 
 country; he hasn't a constructive idea in his head. 
 Don't be magnanimous! You have forced them to 
 call you in to help them; you are in a position to 
 exact your own terms, and your terms must be that 
 you are Prime Minister. 
 
 Again Mr. Draper shook his head. 
 
 "Forgive me, my dear Evelyn, but isn't that the 
 reasoning of an ambitious woman?" 
 
 "It is the reasoning of a woman, certainly," she 
 allowed, her face alive with emotion, "and of a 
 woman ambitious for her country. I am Robert's 
 wife, and I know his worth compared with yours. 
 I don't wish to pay you a vain compliment, but as 
 an Englishwoman unenfranchised though I am 
 I desire that the strongest and ablest man 
 in the kingdom should take charge and have a 
 free hand in one of the darkest hours we have ever 
 known." 
 
 The Minister began to pace the room uneasily. 
 
 "But assuming all that," he said, "may I not still 
 be able to assert myself?" 
 
 " In time, no doubt. But you will find it so much 
 more difficult if you yield to them now. And you 
 must not forget that they will always be intriguing 
 against you. They will use you to serve their turn, 
 but they will always be looking out for the moment 
 when they can cast you off. They only invite you to
 
 THE CRISIS 177 
 
 come in because at the present moment no form of 
 government is possible without you. You have got 
 the whip-hand. It will be sheer unwisdom lightly to 
 forego your advantage." 
 
 "I have no intention of doing that," said the 
 Minister. " But I mustn't use it immorally. What- 
 ever happens, the country must come first; we are 
 none of us more than pawns in the game. Moreover, 
 time is all-important; and I hardly feel equal to in- 
 curring the responsibility of overthrowing a well- 
 thought-out scheme unless I can be quite sure that 
 the whole thing rests on a fallacy." 
 
 "How would you define *a fallacy' in this particular 
 instance?" 
 
 "I should consider the scheme to be based on a 
 fallacy if clear proof could be adduced that such 
 heterogeneous elements would find it impossible to 
 work together." 
 
 "Do you doubt it for one moment?" 
 
 The Minister passed his hand across his forehead, 
 like one who suffers almost intolerable pain. 
 
 "Please don't press the point too hard," he said 
 with a rather pathetic anxiety. "Nobody realizes 
 more fully than I do how nearly hopeless it is. But 
 there is always the chance that we may find some 
 common ground on which to stand." 
 
 "Impossible! Consider, to begin with, two such 
 men as Robert and yourself. Is there any common
 
 178 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 ground on which you can stand ? You know him to 
 be false right through." 
 
 "Yes, I feel all that. But he has earned the respect 
 and the confidence of better men than I." 
 
 "No, I won't allow you to be magnanimous. A 
 great mistake is about to be made by a very admir- 
 able and well-meaning person, but you must be no 
 party to it. Whatever happens you cannot join a 
 Rockingham ministry." 
 
 "Cannot?" 
 
 "Cannot." 
 
 "Isn't it too big a word?" 
 
 Her face had grown white and set. 
 
 "Suppose I justify it?" she said breathing hard. 
 " Suppose I put the proof in your hand?" 
 
 "Impossible!" 
 
 " Isn't it too big a word ? " she retorted. " Besides, 
 does it really need proving?" 
 
 "Yes, I think it does," he said very gravely. "I 
 make no secret of the fact that I distrust Rocking- 
 ham, that I despise him, but I think proof is needed 
 that it is impossible for us to sit round the same 
 table." 
 
 Now she was as white as death. 
 
 "Are you so blind that you have no suspicions?" 
 
 "A wise man never indulges in suspicions," he said. 
 
 "A very dangerous doctrine, my friend," was her 
 answer.
 
 THE CRISIS 179 
 
 The Minister shook his head. 
 
 "Evelyn," he said very gravely, "please under- 
 stand that I never let myself deal in such things as 
 suspicions. The estimate I have formed of Rocking- 
 ham's character is not flattering, but I don't go 
 beyond that. What, pray, have I to be suspicious 
 of?" 
 
 "Well, since you don't deal in suspicions," she said 
 with a touch of rather venomous irony, "there is, 
 perhaps, no need to answer the question." 
 
 "Precisely," he said, with an air of indifference. 
 
 But the air of indifference whipped up all the 
 woman in her. 
 
 "Well," she said slowly, with biting emphasis,, 
 perhaps you will prefer to deal with hard facts." 
 
 "Certainly," he said. Her tone had aroused his 
 curiosity, but he kept it well in hand. "One always 
 prefers to deal with hard facts if they happen to be 
 available. We cannot have too many of those." 
 
 "That is to say, you are never afraid of them?" 
 
 "No," he said; "one is never afraid of hard facts. 
 Why should one be?" 
 
 " Doesn't it rather depend on the nature of them? " 
 
 "Doesn't it depend, my dear Evelyn, rather 
 upon the nature of the person to whom they are 
 addressed?" 
 
 "Perhaps it may be so." 
 
 In spite of her iron will she was terribly excited
 
 i8o AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 now. But he was too obtuse to perceive how hard 
 emotion was driving her. 
 
 "Evelyn," he said, "why play with words? Rome 
 is burning. There is more than work enough for 
 every one of her citizens. If you are in a position to 
 adduce any fact mind, I say fact why it is impos- 
 sible for Rockingham and myself to work together, 
 in the name of the country I call upon you to adduce 
 it." 
 
 For a little time she was silent. Then she tried to 
 speak, and her voice failed. 
 
 "Well, my dear Evelyn?" 
 
 He was still imperturbable, still perfectly self- 
 secure. 
 
 "You invite me to lay the facts on the table before 
 you?" she said in a voice strangely thin and high. 
 
 "Nay," he said with a calm smile, "I do more than 
 that. If you possess any proof of your assertion 
 that it is impossible for Rockingham and myself to 
 work together for the common good, I do more than 
 ask for it. I demand it." 
 
 By now she was trembling violently. 
 
 "Very well," she said, "please ring that bell."
 
 XXI 
 
 MR. DRAPER touched the bell. Nicholson en- 
 tered in answer to the summons. Something 
 in the aspect of Evelyn Rockingham caused the 
 servant to close the door behind him. He then stood 
 in a kind of proud humility, his face averted from 
 his master. 
 
 "Is it Nicholson you wish to see?" asked the 
 Minister, breaking a silence that was painful. 
 
 She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. After 
 a further moment of silence, the butler plunged his 
 hand into the breast-pocket of his coat. He drew 
 out two letters and handed them to his master. 
 
 "Sir," he said, speaking with a self-control that was 
 remarkable, "one of these is a note that was left for 
 you by my mistress when she went away last Friday 
 week. I did not forward it to you, nor did I give it 
 to you immediately upon your return. The time 
 did not seem favourable. The other letter is the one 
 you gave me to post last evening. In the circum- 
 stances I thought it right not to post it. I may say, 
 sir, that in both cases I accept full responsibility for 
 my action." 
 
 181
 
 1 82 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 The Minister did not say anything in reply, but 
 stood holding the letters, an odd look upon his face. 
 
 The butler left the room. 
 
 "Was it by your advice," the Minister asked 
 Evelyn when they were left together, "that Nichol- 
 son has done as he has done?" 
 
 "In withholding these letters, do you mean?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I will tell you what happened. I did not know 
 of the existence of either of these letters until last 
 night about eleven o'clock when he came to me for 
 advice." 
 
 "What advice did you give?" 
 
 "I advised him to give them to you at the first 
 favourable opportunity." 
 
 "What was his reason for withholding them?" 
 
 "His fear of the consequences. He realizes that 
 all depends on you. Yesterday, upon your return, 
 worn out and overwrought, he could not trust you 
 with Aline's letter?" 
 
 "That is to say, he knows its contents?" 
 
 "I think he has made a guess." 
 
 "Which he has communicated to you?" 
 
 "No, not in so many words. But having regard 
 to all the circumstances I have been obliged to infer 
 certain things." 
 
 "How long have you been cognizant of these cir- 
 cumstances?"
 
 THE CRISIS 183 
 
 "For some little time past, but I allowed myself 
 to draw no inferences until last night." 
 
 "I see," he said in a musing tone. 
 
 He still held the letter unopened in his hand. She 
 calmly watched the working of the powerful will 
 behind the unimpassioned mask that was presented 
 to her. She felt it to be a wonderful exhibition 
 of self-control. 
 
 "I would like to ask you one more question, 
 Evelyn," he said gently, with a perceptible lightening 
 of tone. "You must forgive my asking so many, 
 but do you approve of Nicholson's action?" 
 
 "I have lain awake all night to consider it," she 
 said. "And I have come to the conclusion that, 
 taking all the circumstances into consideration, 
 special and peculiar as they are and having regard to 
 the man himself and the kind of man he is, his action 
 is to be defended." 
 
 "That is to say, that had you been in Nicholson's 
 place, you would have felt justified in acting as he 
 has done?" 
 
 "Yes had I been Nicholson." 
 
 He looked at her searchingly. 
 
 "You would have been tempted to think so 
 meanly of me?" 
 
 "No," she answered; "it is hardly fair to put it that 
 way. Nicholson, as I understand him, is a man 
 obsessed by an idea. In his eyes you are the instru-
 
 1 84 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 ment chosen by Providence to save his country. At 
 the most crucial of all moments he is called upon 
 suddenly, by a set of perverse and untoward circum- 
 stances, to imperil the efficiency of that instrument, 
 and wisely and rightly, and I think even nobly, he 
 declines to do it." 
 
 "How admirably you play advocatus diaboli." 
 
 As the Minister spoke, almost in a tone of jest- 
 ing, he slipped both the letters into his pocket, 
 unopened. 
 
 His self-restraint amazed her. She had the wit to 
 take her own cue from it. 
 
 "By the way, you got my card for Friday even- 
 ing?" she said. 
 
 "What is the object?" he asked. His tone was 
 one of polite interest. "Is it meant for a kind of 
 counter-demonstration ? " 
 
 "Well, hardly at Rockingham House! Cards 
 were sent out, you know, before these things came to 
 pass. And there really seems no reason why we 
 should cancel a perfectly innocent function." 
 
 "But think of the amount of water that has lately 
 flowed under London Bridge." 
 
 "I know. But my prophetic soul seems to tell me 
 that we of the faith ought all to keep in touch." 
 
 "Who are the faithful?" 
 
 "Grundy and Bryant have promised to come. 
 The Centre will be well represented. And I think
 
 THE CRISIS 185 
 
 Diplomacy, the Services, and the Army Council will 
 be there in force." 
 
 "Quite a representative gathering, eh, of the pro- 
 fessional interests ? A meeting of business men." 
 
 "Yes 'To meet the Right Honourable James 
 Draper.' " 
 
 "Did you put that on your cards?" 
 
 "No, it hardly seemed wise at Rockingham 
 House! But it will be Hamlet without the Prince 
 if you don't show up." 
 
 The Minister laughed rather wryly. 
 
 "We may all be blown up sky-high by Friday 
 evening," he said. "Those who are the most familiar 
 with the signs and portents predict that Friday has 
 been chosen as the Judgment Day." 
 
 "Well, my dear James," she said, "if you are alive 
 and well, if we are all alive and well, I want you to 
 promise to attend my party on Friday evening, not 
 later then eleven o'clock." 
 
 He did not reply immediately, and then he said: 
 "I think perhaps it would be rash to make any 
 promises for Friday. There is no saying what will 
 have happened by then." 
 
 The almost imperceptible change in the tone seemed 
 somehow to strike into her. She looked at him rather 
 wanly. But the impassive face was still as it was. 
 
 "At any rate," she said, "I shall expect you. I 
 depend upon you. I demand a promise."
 
 1 86 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Very well," he said. And now there was a subtle 
 quality in his tone that struck right through her. 
 "Very well, Evelyn if I am alive and well." 
 
 Nothing further passed. Perhaps it was that she 
 felt her nerve to be failing. He escorted her to the 
 hall door, where her car awaited her, and in the 
 fading light of the February afternoon he remained 
 a sombre, ghostlike figure watching her drive away. 
 
 An hour later she returned, but did not penetrate 
 farther than the entrance hall, where she held a brief 
 colloquy with Nicholson. 
 
 "I want you to keep me informed," she said, "of 
 anything that may happen. My number on the 
 telephone is 049 Mayfair." 
 
 The butler promised to do so. 
 
 "Where is Mr. Draper now?" she asked. 
 
 "He is locked in his study, your Grace. He has 
 given strict instructions that no one, not even Mr. 
 Renshaw, is to disturb him. He is at home to no 
 one." 
 
 The face of the butler was livid. His emotion 
 threatened to overmaster him. 
 
 As Evelyn Rockingham was about to return to her 
 brougham, with a sudden impulse of feminine kind- 
 ness she offered her hand to the old man. 
 
 He kissed it reverently. A single tear stained her 
 glove.
 
 XXII 
 
 THE next afternoon about five o'clock Evelyn 
 Rockingham came to Queen Anne's Gate for 
 the third time that day. She was received in the 
 morning-room byMr.Renshaw, the private secretary. 
 
 He was an able, matter-of-fact young man with 
 that definite, assured, persistently mundane outlook 
 upon the world that is in itself a guarantee of success 
 in any sphere of action in which its possessor may 
 engage. 
 
 "Does he still keep his room?" she asked. The 
 private secretary answered rather curtly in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 "And the door is still locked?" 
 
 "It was when I tried it half an hour ago," said the 
 young man. 
 
 "Did you speak to him?" 
 
 "Yes, I knocked upon the door, and asked him 
 whether he would not take some food." 
 
 "And he answered you?" 
 
 "Yes; he said when he required food he would 
 ring for it." 
 
 "In what manner did he answer?" 
 
 187
 
 i88 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 " In quite a normal, ordinary voice, I thought." 
 
 Evelyn seemed to be reassured a little. 
 
 "I would like to ask you one question, Mr. Ren- 
 shaw," she said. "As a detached observer, in what 
 light does Mr. Draper's behaviour appear to you? 
 Knowing him intimately as you do, is there anything 
 in especial you are able to deduce from it?" 
 
 The young man did not answer the quest on until 
 he had spent some little time in reflection. And then 
 he said with a melancholy smile: "I confess I am 
 utterly defeated by it." 
 
 "Nicholson, by any chance, has not spoken to you 
 on the subject?" 
 
 "Nicholson? Oh, no." 
 
 His surprised tone convicted her of unwariness. 
 She hastened to cover her indiscretion as well as she 
 could. 
 
 " He seems very upset, poor old thing." 
 
 "Nicholson?" 
 
 The tone of surprise had grown more positive. 
 She beat a retreat, hasty and perhaps a little igno- 
 minious. 
 
 "Has the King sent again?" 
 
 "Yes, a quarter of an hour ago." 
 
 "And you communicated the fact to him through 
 the locked door?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And his answer?"
 
 THE CRISIS 189 
 
 Mr. Renshaw's own answer was to look his visitor 
 steadily in the eyes. He had a decidedly resolute 
 and determined mouth. 
 
 "I hope you don't think I'm impertinent," she said. 
 
 "Not at all," said the young man, summoning a 
 very well-bred air to his assistance. 
 
 A red spot appeared in the centre of her cheek. 
 She was keenly chagrined by the feeling that she had 
 been taking a little too much for granted. 
 
 "You see I am a very old friend," she said. 
 
 The young man inclined his head slightly and very 
 stiffly. 
 
 "A very old friend, Mr. Renshaw. I cannot bear 
 the thought of anything happening to him, particu- 
 larly at a time like this." 
 
 The young man again inclined his head. 
 
 "Believe me," she said upon a note of the sweetest 
 humility, "I would not appear impertinent for the 
 world. I would not appear in any way officious, but 
 I realize as few people can the awful importance of 
 all this. I hope I make myself clear?" 
 
 "Admirably clear," said the young man with an 
 aloofness of manner equally admirable. 
 
 "Do you feel disposed to tell me what Mr. Draper's 
 answer was to the King's second summons." 
 
 "Certainly," said the young man. "Mr. Draper's 
 answer was that he much regretted that he was not 
 sufficiently well to leave his room."
 
 190 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Could you have told that anything was amiss 
 from the tone or the manner in which the answer was 
 given ? " 
 
 "There was nothing as far as one could judge to 
 suggest any kind of mental disturbance," said the 
 private secretary, gravely measuring his words. 
 
 "Tell me, Mr. Renshaw if you will forgive my 
 terrible anxiety do you yourself feel, as one who 
 knows Mr. Draper intimately, that he is undergoing 
 some process of mental disturbance?" 
 
 Mr. Renshaw took time for his answer. 
 
 "I undoubtedly do," he said. 
 
 "You would say his behaviour within the past 
 twenty-four hours is inconsistent with a perfectly 
 normal mind?" 
 
 Again Mr. Renshaw took time for his answer. 
 
 "As I envisage a perfectly normal mind," he said, 
 "I feel bound to say yes." 
 
 "Has he ever acted in this way before within your 
 knowledge of him ? " 
 
 "Never, within my knowledge." 
 
 "Is there anything to which you can ascribe this 
 present condition ? if you will forgive this seeming 
 impertinence." 
 
 "I would be inclined to say, myself," said the 
 young man, speaking slowly and with hesitation, 
 "that it is the result of overwork. The strain last 
 week must have been fearful."
 
 THE CRISIS 191 
 
 "By the way, you didn't accompany him upon his 
 tour?" 
 
 "Only to Derby and Sheffield." 
 "And he made wonderful speeches?" 
 "The two that I heard will always stand out as the 
 most wonderful in my recollection. I don't say that 
 merely because they are the freshest." The official 
 manner was losing a little of its chill at last. "It 
 was as old Sir George Rose, who took the chair at 
 Sheffield, said, he spoke like an evangel of righteous- 
 ness. It sounds rather like cant, I dare say, but 
 somehow it seems exactly to describe the effect that 
 he made." 
 
 "And you feel that nature has been overdriven, 
 
 and that he is now suffering a very severe reaction?" 
 
 Once more the young man took time for his 
 
 answer. 
 
 M 
 
 Yes," he said, "it seems to be the only explana- 
 tion that can meet the case." 
 
 As he answered slowly and deliberately their eyes 
 met. Hers, softly luminous in spite of the tears 
 they had sought in vain to shed, seemed to pierce 
 right through those of the young man and to enter 
 the hard, limited and secure soul that lay behind. 
 
 She was more than a little afraid. He was a man 
 with whom no sort of liberty could be taken. But 
 desperation and an intolerable anguish of mind forced 
 her to accept the risk.
 
 192 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Mr. Renshaw," she said, "there is just one other 
 question I beg to be allowed to ask." 
 
 The clear gray eyes looked at her unfalteringly. 
 
 " I merely ask it because because I must. If we 
 are to save him if we are to save England 
 there must be no secrets between us. I hope you 
 understand." 
 
 He remained motionless. 
 
 "The question I ask is this: When his wife left 
 this house for Cloudesley last Friday week, were 
 you aware that she had left it never to return ?" 
 
 The young man kept a tight hold upon his com- 
 posure. 
 
 "Having regard to the answers I have already 
 given," he said icily, "it hardly seems necessary that 
 I should answer the question." 
 
 "Forgive me," she said quickly, "I ought not to 
 have asked it." 
 
 He stood tense in every line. But a moment after- 
 ward her note of appeal had conquered him. 
 
 "Perhaps you ought not," he said, "but I'm glad 
 you did. That is, if it is right that you should." 
 
 "I hope it is. It may not be, but I think if we are 
 to help him we must both fully realize our task." 
 
 He, in his turn, now became the questioner. 
 
 "He was informed yesterday afternoon about five 
 o'clock," she said in answer. 
 
 "By whom?"
 
 THE CRISIS 193 
 
 She briefly told the story of Nicholson coming to 
 her with the letters. 
 
 "It was really at my instigation, you see, that 
 Nicholson divulged the secret when he did. And 
 now the grievous problem that haunts me is, was 
 Nicholson's first instinct after all the right one in the 
 circumstances, and ought things to have been left as 
 they were?" 
 
 They looked steadily at one another through the 
 fading light of the room. The breath of each was 
 coming quickly. 
 
 " Is that the question you ask me? " he said at last. 
 
 She turned aside swiftly, with a little cry. 
 
 "No, it is not. Because because I don't think 
 I could bear the answer."
 
 XXIII 
 
 7V3R some little time they stood looking at one 
 J/ another in an embarrassed silence. Neither 
 knew what to say to the other. Each had a sense of 
 futility, a sense of impotence, that was overwhelming. 
 
 In crises of this kind it is the woman as a rule who 
 speaks first. 
 
 "Is there any single thing we can do?" asked 
 Evelyn Rockingham, and she seemed a little over- 
 come by the futility of the question. 
 
 "I don't in the least know," said the private 
 secretary, equally conscious of impotence. 
 
 " It is too early to consult a doctor? Do you think 
 he could help us if we did ? " 
 
 The young man shook his head sadly. 
 
 "I am out of my depth," he said. "I have no 
 advice to give." 
 
 Fear seemed to take possession of her. 
 
 "Oh, I hope he has not let go!" she said. 
 
 "That is just what one doesn't know," said the 
 private secretary, "and it is just what no one can 
 tell us." 
 
 Urged by a sudden impulse she left the room. 
 
 194
 
 THE CRISIS 195 
 
 She crossed the dimly lighted hall, making her way 
 stealthily into a dark recess in one of its distant cor- 
 ners in which was a curtained door. 
 
 She knocked gently upon the panel. She called 
 the name of the Minister softly. 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 "James, it is I! Evelyn!" 
 
 There was still no answer. 
 
 She pressed her ear to the panel. Strain her senses 
 as she might she could not detect a sound within. 
 
 She struck the door harder. She raised her voice 
 louder. Again she spoke his name. 
 
 There was not a sound. 
 
 A kind of nausea came suddenly upon her. 
 
 "James! It is I Evelyn!" 
 
 The silence gripped her strangely. She felt herself 
 to be turning a little faint. 
 
 Involuntarily she grasped the door-handle and 
 turned it. With a thrill almost akin to terror she 
 discovered that the door had yielded. 
 
 Half dazed with a sudden unreasoning dread of the 
 unknown she discovered that the door had come open 
 and that she stood on the threshold of a room com- 
 pletely dark. 
 
 Again she cried his name, and now with a sob. 
 
 There was no response. 
 
 Quivering from head to foot she groped her way in. 
 She fumbled for the wall and for the button of the
 
 196 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 electric light, but could find neither. She stumbled 
 forward through the darkness, and knocked over a 
 chair. The fire was out in the grate. No ray of 
 light penetrated the curtained window or the cur- 
 tained doorway through which she had entered. 
 
 It was like entering a tomb. Even her hand was 
 not visible when she held it before her face. She was 
 almost overmastered by a desire to scream. 
 
 She stood to listen. There was a dead silence 
 except for the ticking of her nerves. These formed 
 the only living presence of that she was sure. 
 
 Cold and faint with a terror she had never known 
 before, she turned to grope her way out of the room. 
 A chair fell to the carpet with a thud. By now all her 
 bearings were lost. There was nothing to guide her. 
 She could not tell in which direction lay the door, the 
 window, the walls, or the fireplace. 
 
 Straining every nerve she stood in the darkness to 
 listen, but could only hear the beating of her heart. 
 Then she grew aware of the loud insistent ticking of 
 a clock on the chimneypiece. 
 
 "James !" she cried 
 
 At the sound of her own voice she darted forward. 
 She fell headlong across a sofa. Here she lay help- 
 less, struggling as if in the clutch of a nightmare for 
 the vague, intangible thread of the light of reason. 
 
 How long she lay prone she didn't know. The 
 clock near at hand on the chimneypiece continued
 
 THE CRISIS 197 
 
 to tick, and her fluttered nerves in a sort of desperate 
 orgy were in unison with it. And then, just as the 
 will began to totter, there was the sound of a cur- 
 tained door opening quite near to her. It revolved 
 stealthily; there were muffled groping footfalls; there 
 was a faint blur of light, and then a heavy shadow; 
 and then the door closed again, and all again was 
 darkness. 
 
 As she lay in a huddle on the sofa she was over- 
 whelmed by the sense of a presence in the room. 
 
 "Turn up the light, please, whoever you are," she 
 had the presence of mind to gasp. 
 
 There was a click and then the light. 
 
 Nicholson, a figure of horror and consternation, 
 was seen to be leaning against the wall. 
 
 "Oh, it is you, Nicholson," she said, rather hys- 
 terically. "I have done such a stupid thing. I 
 groped my way in, couldn't find the light, lost my 
 bearings completely, and fell over this." 
 
 "I am very sorry, your Grace," said the old 
 servant in a rather shattered voice. "I I didn't 
 expect to find your Grace. I I beg your pardon." 
 
 "Do you know where Mr. Draper is?" she asked. 
 "I had expected to find him here." 
 
 "He left the house a quarter of an hour ago, your 
 Grace, while you were in conversation with Mr. 
 Renshaw." 
 
 "Do you know where he has gone?"
 
 198 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I do not, your Grace." 
 
 "Or when he is likely to return?" 
 
 "I do not, your Grace. He left no message of 
 any kind." 
 
 "How did he seem?" 
 
 "That I cannot say, your Grace. I had only just 
 a glimpse of him as he went out of the hall door." 
 
 She had already noticed a mysterious imple- 
 ment in the hand of the butler. Her curiosity was 
 aroused, particularly as he was at pains to con- 
 ceal the implement by holding it behind his back. 
 She asked him what it was. It proved, how- 
 ever, to be nothing more formidable than a screw- 
 driver. 
 
 Prosaic as was the nature of the tool, it had the 
 power further to stimulate her curiosity. 
 
 "What are you going to do with it?" she asked. 
 
 The question disconcerted the old man completely. 
 
 "Let there be no secrets between us. Nicholson," 
 she said in a tone of grave gentleness. 
 
 "There shall be none, your Grace," said the old 
 man very simply. "The truth is there is something 
 locked up in that bureau that I feel ought to come 
 out. And I have come here for the purpose of get- 
 ting it out." 
 
 "Tell me what it is?" 
 
 "A revolver and some cartridges, your Grace." 
 
 "Why are they there?"
 
 THE CRISIS 199 
 
 "We were troubled with burglars along the street 
 about a year ago, and Mr. Draper thought it to be 
 his duty as a householder to take precautions." 
 
 "Well, I agree with you that it would be wise to 
 get them out." 
 
 Nicholson was of opinion that they were in the 
 bottom drawer of the bureau, which was locked. He 
 knelt and began to ply the screw-driver. In a short 
 time the drawer was open, and there at the top lay 
 the weapon beside a cardboard box. 
 
 While the servant was still on his knees holding 
 these sinister trophies in his hands, and while Evelyn 
 Rockingham was bending over him intently, the door 
 of the room opened, and the Minister entered in his 
 usual quiet manner. So completely were the two 
 conspirators absorbed in their task that for a moment 
 they remained wholly unconscious of his entrance.
 
 XXIV 
 
 THEY discovered his presence with a surprise 
 that was almost painful. It was impossible to 
 conceal what they were doing. The butler rose to 
 his feet with the revolver and the box of cartridges in 
 his hands. 
 
 Mr. Draper smiled a little. 
 
 "I think you are quite right," he said gently. "It 
 is very well thought of, my dear fellow, although " 
 he smiled gravely "the peril is hardly so acute as 
 all that." 
 
 The old man was sustained by the tone, which was 
 calm and full of kindness. 
 
 "Forgive me, sir," he said. "Perhaps I am over- 
 anxious. But I couldn't bear the thought of these 
 things being here." 
 
 The Minister laid a hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "Quite right, my dear fellow, quite right. Pray, take 
 charge of them. They will be better in your care." 
 
 The butler seized the moment to effect an escape 
 with his trophies. 
 
 "Dear old fellow!" said the Minister to his other 
 friend, when they were left together. 
 
 200
 
 THE CRISIS 201 
 
 His speech was perfectly well ordered. Every- 
 thing about him pointed to the fact that his mind 
 was under control. Fearful as was the soul of 
 Evelyn Rockingham, she was able to take courage 
 from his bearing. Beyond the fact that he had the 
 air and look of a very tired man there was hardly a 
 suggestion of strain. 
 
 "I hope I have not frightened you all too much," 
 he said with a penitent sweetness which she had 
 never heard before in his voice. "I am afraid it 
 was selfish and thoughtless and rather cruel to 
 shut one's self up like that. I am truly sorry 
 for any alarm I may have caused but, you see, 
 it was necessary that I should be alone with my 
 God." 
 
 "Yes, that I quite understand," she said brokenly. 
 
 "He has been very good to me," said the Minister 
 musingly, almost as though he was thinking aloud. 
 
 "Very, very good to me. I am almost daring to 
 hope He has given me that for which I crave." 
 
 "The strength to do right?" 
 
 "Yes just that. He has been with me here in 
 this little room." The voice and look were those 
 of a seer. "He came to me when I sought Him. I 
 am very grateful." The sudden tears glistened in 
 his eyes. "Very grateful for myself and for the 
 country." 
 
 "Is it that you see the way out?"
 
 202 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Not yet. It is too early for that. But I have 
 a ray of hope." 
 
 "You know that you were twice sent for yester- 
 day?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. I am quite cognizant of all that has 
 passed. I hope the King will not think me discour- 
 teous. I have just posted a letter to inform him that 
 for the present I am not able to attend to any public 
 business." 
 
 "You feel, in the circumstances, that some such 
 statement was expedient?" 
 
 "Expedient is hardly the word. But I felt it to 
 be due to us both. As a Christian gentleman he is 
 not likely to misconstrue what I have written." 
 
 "Is it that you have asked for an extension 
 of the forty-eight hours in order to arrive at a 
 decision?" 
 
 The Minister closed his eyes as one overcome 
 with weariness. 
 
 " I have asked for nothing. I can make no decision. 
 God will decide. It must be left in His hands. He 
 will decide for us all." 
 
 "Has He decided?" 
 
 She put the question almost breathlessly. 
 
 "He has not yet made known His will." 
 
 " And is it that you cannot see the King until the 
 will of God is made known? " 
 
 "Even as you say, my dear friend. The case has
 
 THE CRISIS 203 
 
 been submitted to the High Court. We must now 
 possess our souls in patience and abide the issue." 
 
 Again she felt that tightening of the throat and 
 breast that of late had afflicted her. 
 
 "Do you seem to have any knowledge of when 
 His will will be made known?" 
 
 "I feel it will not be long delayed," said the Min- 
 ister.
 
 XXV 
 
 ROCKINGHAM HOUSE on the night of "a 
 crush" was a rather imposing spectacle. A 
 string of vehicles encumbered half the purlieus of 
 Mayfair. Wealth, rank, distinction of many kinds, 
 charming dresses and interesting personalities in 
 an almost endless profusion entered the courtyard, 
 passed under the awning and found their way up the 
 famous white marble staircase, garnished with the 
 genius of Lely, Kneller, Gainsborough, Reynolds, 
 Romney, and Lawrence. And at the head of the 
 stairs the company was received by a personage 
 who shone that evening with a genius more vital than 
 ever canvas was endowed with, by even the greatest 
 painter that ever existed. 
 
 The hostess presented a stiking contrast to her 
 guests. A very tall, animated woman with a remark- 
 able freedom of pose, she wore a plain black gown. 
 Neither head nor neck was embellished by a single 
 ornament. The hair was drawn straight back from 
 the large, noble, rather masculine features; and there 
 was some subtle quality in the whole bearing which 
 seemed to dominate the crowded rooms. 
 
 204
 
 THE CRISIS 205 
 
 This was a strong-spirited, remarkable woman, 
 an esprit fort, with whose name at that particular 
 moment rumour was more than a little busy. The 
 real cause for the protracted deliberations of the 
 Privy Council was now known to the town. 
 
 The facts as they had begun to percolate through 
 to the gossips of the metropolis were that in the 
 country the pendulum of public opinion had already 
 swung very decisively in the direction of the Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Conciliation, and that a clique 
 of intriguers and placemen, making morality their 
 watchword, had been able up till the present to freeze 
 him out. 
 
 To-night, as soon as the guests began to assemble, 
 a strange tense undercurrent of excitement was pres- 
 ent in the spaciously beautiful rooms. As minute 
 by minute they filled up, the atmosphere became 
 increasingly electrical. The sands in the hour-glass 
 were running out. The country had been twelve 
 days now without a Government; and it was realized 
 on every hand that the nation was passing through 
 the gravest crisis it had known for nearly three 
 hundred years. 
 
 There were many strained and anxious faces in 
 that oddly assorted assembly. It was of a political 
 rather than social cast. Little intimate groups were 
 conversing apart in low tones. Shortly after eleven 
 o'clock the rooms were crowded, and in a vague, indefi-
 
 206 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 nite way it was felt that something decisive was 
 about to occur. 
 
 "Where is Draper?" asked a member of the late 
 Government as he made his way with an authori- 
 tative air to a group at the far end of the larger 
 room. 
 
 " I thought we were to have the pleasure of meet- 
 ing him this evening."' 
 
 "I hear he has been all day with the King," said 
 the central figure of the group, a fine looking, elderly 
 man who wore a star. 
 
 "Things must be pretty bad, then. Has the 
 Rockingham faction given its answer?" 
 
 "It had not up till five o'clock. Of course they 
 have till Monday." 
 
 "And they are conferring at Cloudesley?" 
 
 "One hears so." 
 
 "Why at Cloudesley? One would have thought 
 they would have kept on the spot." 
 
 "They can do nothing wherever they are until the 
 decision is made. And one understands their chief 
 object at present is to keep clear of the Press. By 
 the way, all the world is saying that Draper has 
 broken with his wife." 
 
 "So one hears; but one hesitates to say how true 
 it is." 
 
 "She has been at Cloudesley a fortnight at any 
 rate, whatever that may mean."
 
 THE CRISIS 207 
 
 "Well, it was always an utterly incomprehensible 
 marriage." 
 
 This fragment of conversation was but one among 
 many of a similar kind. The name of Draper was 
 upon every lip. From the midst of the slough of 
 apathy and indecision of the last twelve days this 
 man of will and purpose had begun clearly to emerge. 
 It was now known that the country at large was call- 
 ing for him. The solid body of common sense which 
 has ever been at the core of the nation, that phalanx 
 of moderate opinion which in a supreme crisis can 
 rise above faction, was beginning now to make its 
 voice plainly heard. 
 
 That Rockingham had been asked by the King 
 to form a ministry, and that he had till the following 
 Monday at noon in which to make up his mind, was 
 known to the few. It was also known that Rocking- 
 ham and his friends and advisers were conferring 
 together during that week-end in the seclusion of a 
 famousTory country-house, forty miles from London. 
 This withdrawal from the metropolis at such an hour 
 had been much commented upon by those who were 
 aware of what was taking place; but having re- 
 gard to the electrical state of the atmosphere, the 
 secrecy which was being rigorously maintained in 
 respect of the negotiations, and the almost certain 
 prospect of their leaking out had they been con- 
 ducted in London, the wisdom of such a course
 
 208 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 of action until a decision had been reached was 
 recognized by those best qualified to judge. 
 
 The events of the past week had made it clear to 
 all that at the moment no Government of any kind 
 would be acceptable to the nation at large unless it 
 included the President of the Board of Conciliation. 
 His tour of the North, which had checked the rising 
 tide of disorder and lawlessness, had also had the 
 effect of forcing the hand of the Sovereign, and ren- 
 dering the Minister indispensable to the country's 
 governance. It was felt that it would be worse than 
 futile for Rockingham to accept office without coming 
 to terms with the remarkable man to whom politi- 
 cally and socially he was bitterly opposed. 
 
 Apart, however, from these salient facts all sorts 
 of sinister rumours were rife this evening at Rocking- 
 ham House. It had turned half-past eleven, and 
 the man about whose complex personality the situa- 
 tion crystallized had not yet appeared. For some 
 reason, vague and hard to define, his absence was 
 taken by many as a grave omen. 
 
 Fresh arrivals swelled the throng continually. It be- 
 came increasingly difficult to move about the crowded 
 rooms. The buzz of conversation rose higher and 
 more insistent, and every few minutes, in the train of 
 the latest representative person's arrival, some new 
 and startling rumour was bruited. 
 
 The appearance at twenty minutes to twelve of
 
 THE CRISIS 209 
 
 two grave and reverend members of the Army Coun- 
 cil brought the sinister information that martial law 
 had been proclaimed at Manchester. The statement 
 was also made, not however by those who were in a 
 position to confirm it, that the troops had refused 
 to fire upon the mob. All the same, the intelligence 
 spread like wildfire from group to group. Many 
 there were who bluntly refused to accept the news as 
 true; others set themselves stoutly to minimize its 
 significance. 
 
 At ten minutes to twelve the entrance of the 
 suavely dignified figure of the Commissioner of Police 
 gave rise to further ominous speculations. They were 
 supported by the fact that the Commissioner steered 
 a straight course through the throng to a solemn- 
 looking group which had formed apart from all the 
 others and was composed of important public officials. 
 
 Almost immediately afterward a hush fell upon the 
 crowded rooms. Mr. Draper had appeared at last. 
 
 "Upon my soul, the man looks like a death's- 
 head," said a former colleague of the Minister. 
 
 Every detail of his bearing and demeanour was 
 noted with an eager curiosity. Yet beyond the fact 
 that he was as pale as death little could be gained 
 from the outward man. There was seen to be an 
 aloofness about him, an air of detachment as if at the 
 moment he moved upon some other plane of being. 
 
 Keen, even anxious, eyes were directed upon him,
 
 2io AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 noting to whom he talked, marking him closely in 
 all he did. It was remarked, however, by some 
 acute observers, who also were the most closely in 
 touch with the trend of affairs, that the man bore 
 no trace of consciousness of that signal triumph 
 which he must have known to be his already. 
 
 As a matter of fact he looked so ghastly that he 
 might have met a ghost on the stairs. And as he 
 moved among the throng exchanging a few perfunc- 
 tory sentences with this person and that, it was as 
 though this critical but heterogeneous crowd had 
 neither meaning nor interest for him, and that his 
 mind was away elsewhere. 
 
 The Minister, however, lost no time in making his 
 way to what was known as the Vandyck room, where, 
 surrounded by effigies of the historic past, was assem- 
 bled a number of those who were responsible for the 
 maintenance of law and order. In the midst of these 
 stood the hostess in earnest conversation with the 
 Commissioner of Police. The appearance of Mr. 
 Draper with his ghostlike countenance had the effect 
 in some strange way of increasing the tension that 
 was felt by all. 
 
 Every moment now seemed to add to the volume 
 of wild speculation. By twelve o'clock all in the 
 crowded rooms appeared to realize that the floodgates 
 had opened, and that the surging tide of popular 
 unrest had broken loose.
 
 THE CRISIS 211 
 
 Precisely the form in which organized hostility to 
 the established order had manifested itself none 
 seemed to know. But somehow, in a subtle and 
 indefinable manner, it was realized that the country 
 was in the grip of a cataclysm. And then quite 
 suddenly, a few minutes after midnight had passed, 
 there came, in as strikingly effective and dramatic a 
 fashion as the wit of man could devise, an evidence, 
 a potent and irrefragable evidence, that the forces of 
 industrial anarchy had declared war against society.
 
 XXVI 
 
 AT a few minutes after midnight, on the morning 
 of the fourteenth of February, without any sort 
 of warning, the brilliantly lighted rooms of Rocking- 
 ham House were plunged in darkness. No omen 
 more startling or disturbing could have been devised. 
 Coming at such a time, as the climax to those sinis- 
 ter fears in which the minds of all were engulfed, it 
 struck a chill into every heart. 
 
 There was not the least sign of panic. The good 
 sense, the instinctive restraint and self-possession 
 with which educated English people are generally 
 able to arm themselves in a crisis were remarkably 
 displayed. Darkness, sudden and complete, had 
 descended upon the crowded assembly, but every 
 person in it supported the calamity and the hint of 
 untold ones to follow with a stoicism that was won- 
 derful. 
 
 Matches were struck in various parts of the rooms. 
 In a very short time the servants, aided by a number 
 of the guests, were able to procure a tolerably efficient 
 supply of candles. 
 
 Presently, by the orders of the hostess, a table was
 
 THE CRISIS 213 
 
 moved into the centre of the largest of the rooms. 
 She then mounted it, and in a clear, steady, and 
 penetrating voice addressed her guests. 
 
 "I am afraid," said Evelyn Rockingham, "that 
 a very grievous thing has happened, but a thing 
 which I am sure, as Englishmen and Englishwomen, 
 we shall all know how to bear with calmness and 
 fortitude. As perhaps some of you have surmised 
 already, the nightmare which for a number of years 
 past has been a phantom in our minds has at last 
 taken shape. The news has been brought to us, and 
 this sudden darkness has confirmed it, that a wicked 
 war has been declared against society at large by 
 those whom we can only regard as its enemies. I 
 grieve to tell you that the Workers' League has 
 declared a universal strike throughout the country. 
 This sudden darkness into which we are plunged is 
 the confirmation of the fact. The Bishop of London, 
 whom by the grace of God we have here in our midst, 
 will offer a short prayer of intercession." 
 
 The hostess descended from the table, and the 
 plaintive but sweetly impressive tones of the clergy- 
 man stole over the curious hush that now enveloped 
 the rooms. Those who witnessed the company, 
 which had assembled for a very different purpose, 
 kneeling in prayer never forgot the spectacle. The 
 candles shone fitfully upon the darkened scene. 
 Many of the choicest spirits of the time humbly in-
 
 2i 4 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 voked the aid of One in whom some of them had not 
 a very profound belief. There was a deep silence 
 while the Bishop, a snow-white patriarch, bent with 
 years, interceded for the country, and begged that 
 the lives of the innocent might not be sacrificed. 
 
 When the Bishop had concluded his prayer, Eve- 
 lyn Rockingham mounted the table and once more 
 addressed her guests. "The President of the Board 
 of Conciliation," she said, "desires to address you. 
 He has been throughout the day in consultation with 
 our beloved Sovereign. He wishes to lay before you 
 a scheme which has been formulated in this dire 
 emergency, almost on the spur of the moment, for the 
 maintenance of law and order, and for the security 
 of the Throne. In the absence of a Government he 
 is only able to speak to you as a private citizen. But 
 he begs you to give him the courtesy of a hearing. It 
 is a matter of the gravest urgency he wishes to lay 
 before you, since not a moment is to be lost if an 
 appalling sacrifice of life and property is to be 
 averted." 
 
 Good manners prevented any dissent being audibly 
 expressed while the hostess was making her proposal. 
 But as soon as she had yielded her place to the Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Conciliation, who in the fitful 
 and uncertain light looked more like a ghost than 
 ever, the silence was broken by a storm of hisses and 
 cries of "Traitor!"
 
 THE CRISIS 215 
 
 It was then seen that there were many present in 
 that assembly who were still bitterly hostile to the 
 Minister. In many hearts there was a deep-rooted 
 dislike. There were those who held that the blame 
 for the present catastrophe must be laid to his door. 
 Their minds were obsessed by what they consid- 
 ered to be his ill-considered action in throwing 
 out the Coalition Government on a minor point of 
 detail. 
 
 At first it seemed that Mr. Draper would be refused 
 a hearing. A storm of angry voices was raised all 
 around him. Many were the gestures of protest. 
 But as the austere figure stood there confronting 
 them with a calmness that seemed to transcend the 
 passions of men, the look of a seer upon his face, all 
 who had eyes to see were overawed. 
 
 For a time the ascetic figure stood there, deadly 
 pale, head bent in patience, not attempting to utter 
 a word. The gesture was one of pain almost too 
 great to be borne. Something seemed to have hap- 
 pened to the aggressively indomitable personality. 
 His attitude as he stood dumbly confronting this 
 hostility was completely passive, completely sub- 
 missive, as of one walking close with his God. 
 
 When at last he opened his lips, every voice was 
 hushed. 
 
 "My countrymen and countrywomen" the won- 
 derful voice floated clear and dominant throughout
 
 216 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 the room "I ask you in the name of God to forget 
 your politics." 
 
 The appeal was not in vain. The noble simplicity 
 which could never fail of its effect in the ears of 
 those accustomed to judge men spoke to every 
 heart. In the lineaments of that ghostlike presence 
 was embodied that rare and precious thing for lack 
 of which the country was like to bleed to death. 
 
 The bitter enemies of James Draper, and the room 
 held many who hated and distrusted him, were 
 forced to listen to his words. The power of his per- 
 sonality, fused into action by a grave crisis, was all- 
 compelling. And having heard those words, few, plain, 
 and fitful, broken by the deep emotion of the speaker, 
 which at times threatened to conquer him, the dullest 
 and most prejudiced heart thrilled in response. 
 
 In the eyes of many, the rather strange figure 
 mounted upon the table was a little grotesque. But 
 those who heard his words, slowly and painfully 
 uttered, and so charged with emotion that they 
 could hardly be induced to leave his lips, seemed to 
 recognize that it was the voice of God speaking to 
 the people of England. 
 
 Every heart was uplifted by an austerity which by 
 some inward grace that few had suspected to be 
 there was raised to the highest power. Here was no 
 oratorical trickery. It was the unstudied expression 
 of a humble-minded citizen who loved his country.
 
 THE CRISIS 217 
 
 This was no political phrasemonger bemusing his 
 hearers with insincerity and claptrap, but a spritual- 
 minded man accustomed to fear his God, and to 
 walk with Him on occasion. 
 
 An old peer at the far end of the room, with 
 the tears streaming down his face, whispered to his 
 wife, "This man is a Cromwell." 
 
 In a sense it was true. In some such manner must 
 the Lord Protector have addressed his countrymen. 
 
 "I would to God," said the great, deep, vibrant 
 tones, full of an odd kind of harmony, "that we had 
 not tarried so long in the gate. Incalculable mis- 
 chief has been done. The King has been twelve days 
 without a Government. And now that this long- 
 predicted blow has fallen upon us with awful sudden- 
 ness there is none to advise him. This is an hour 
 when the King does not know which are his friends 
 and which are his enemies. But I have to inform 
 you that he proposes to take immediate steps to 
 find out. A Royal Proclamation is in the course of 
 preparation and will be issued at daybreak. It will 
 call upon every able-bodied man in the kingdom 
 between the ages of sixteen and seventy, irrespective 
 of creed or class, to enroll himself immediately as a 
 special constable pledged and empowered to main- 
 tain law and order, and to protect life and property to 
 the utmost of his power. A special badge, or insignia, 
 has already been devised, whereby it will be possible
 
 218 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 to distinguish the sheep from the goats. But as it will 
 not be possible to prepare one specially for the purpose, 
 it it proposed that every loyalist when he has been 
 sworn should wear a white band round the left arm." 
 
 Loud cries of assent greeted the suggestion. 
 
 "The scheme is, of course, both hasty and imper- 
 fect, designed under pressure to meet a special case 
 which does not admit of a moment's delay. May I 
 ask all present who approve the scheme to hold up 
 their right hands." 
 
 Every right hand in the room was raised instantly. 
 
 "It will strengthen the hands of the Sovereign," 
 said Mr. Draper, "that this hastily designed scheme 
 has met with the unanimous approval of this dis- 
 tinguished and representative assembly. Within a 
 few hours from now every loyal man in the country 
 will know what measures to take in order to protect 
 and uphold the State. There is not an instant to be 
 lost. By daybreak the King will have empowered 
 every magistrate within the precincts of his kingdom 
 to administer the special constable's oath. And in 
 the meantime I will bear to him the assurance of your 
 unanimous approval." 
 
 The President of the Board of Conciliation 
 stepped down from the elevation on which he had 
 poised himself. Murmurs of gratitude, reverence, 
 and admiration accompanied him as he made his 
 way out of the room.
 
 PART TWO 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 
 I 
 
 CLOUDESLEY was one of the great Tory houses 
 of England. It had long cherished political 
 power. But of late years it had found it increasingly 
 difficult to keep a hold upon affairs. 
 
 In the golden days before democracy had begun 
 to realize itself, the Lorings in common with the 
 Stanhopes, the Howards, the Russells, and other well- 
 placed families had been accustomed to shape affairs 
 as a matter of course, and to legislate in accordance 
 with the interests of a particular class. But these 
 days had passed. Very reluctantly the few had had 
 to yield to the many. Here and there a clan such as 
 the Lorings fought tenaciously for a semblance of 
 power. Politics was in its blood. Moreover, it had 
 an intense appreciation of the usefulness of certain 
 things. 
 
 But now it was felt by all that class interest had 
 come to its Armageddon. Indeed, to many the fact 
 that a Rockingham ministry had only been made 
 
 219
 
 220 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 possible by the inclusion of James Draper was a con- 
 fession that already the battle had been fought and 
 lost. 
 
 Loring himself made a perfectly charming host. 
 There was abundant evidence of the fact in the ap- 
 pearance of the Cloudesley breakfast table on the 
 morning of Saturday, the historic fifteenth of Febru- 
 ary. As one by one his guests reached the dining- 
 room, and after a brief interchange of pleasantries 
 with those already at the table, which suggested 
 that such a gathering was more in the nature of a 
 family party than a momentous political conclave, 
 they found their way to the heavily laden sideboard, 
 it needed little in the way of observation to tell that 
 these were the best of their kind. 
 
 Each had the air, the manner, the indefinable but 
 superficial grace of those who have lived soft for 
 several generations. Each had the look of race and 
 the peculiar timbre of voice that accompanies it. 
 Fastidious to a degree they were yet frankness itself 
 in the company of each other. 
 
 There was only one exception to this pervasive 
 air of "thoroughbredness." This was provided by 
 a Yorkshire manufacturer who had enjoyed wealth 
 for a comparatively short time, whose voice in con- 
 sequence was pitched slightly too loud for such an 
 assembly, whose air, moreover, was a little too con- 
 fident, and whose opinions were a shade too unquali-
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 221 
 
 fied. For that reason, perhaps, he sat next to the 
 host and remained perpetually under his aegis. 
 
 Loring himself had always been persona gratissima 
 in his own sphere, and indeed in any other in which 
 he had ever chosen to mingle. He was not a pro- 
 found man in any sense of the word mere depth 
 does not win general acceptation in any society 
 all his opinions were plain and unvarnished, but he 
 had a most agreeable faculty of expressing the ob- 
 vious with a half-comic air of conviction. He con- 
 veyed an impression of being perfectly straight- 
 forward. One somehow felt that in spite of a 
 commonplaceness of mind that was a little painful 
 at times, and a homely method of expressing it 
 that verged upon the vulgar, beyond all things the 
 man was sound at the core. 
 
 It would have been difficult to tell from the manner 
 of the guests at the breakfast table that they had 
 been and still were preoccupied with the making of 
 history. There was no affectation of weight. Even 
 Rockingham, buttering his toast, and wondering 
 what sort of a year it was likely to be for birds, con- 
 veyed no suggestion that he was face to face with 
 the gravest decision that any man could have been 
 called upon to make. 
 
 A discussion of birds became general. Even in 
 the middle of February they are better worth dis- 
 cussing than politics; that is, to members of the
 
 222 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Right. There was an exception even to this rule, 
 and it was the Yorkshire manufacturer who provided 
 it. He presented the curious anomaly of a member 
 of the Right who actually preferred politics to sport. 
 
 "I say, Loring," he said in a voice a little louder 
 than was necessary, since his host sat next to him, 
 "when do you expect Grundy?" 
 
 "To-morrow afternoon." 
 
 "And is Draper coming?" 
 
 "I believe so." 
 
 Smith-ffolliott had had three bad years running. 
 This year he felt inclined to let his moor. 
 
 "What'll you do with Draper?" said the unde- 
 feated Mr. Ansell, in his insistent voice. 
 
 "Oh, I expect we shall be able to find a mat for the 
 dirty dog to lie on," said the host with an opulent 
 chuckle. 
 
 "On the servants' side, I hope," said the mincing 
 tones of a neighbouring marquis. 
 
 "Or at the bailiff's cottage." 
 
 "But he's too important, ain't he nowadays?" 
 said the undefeated Mr. Ansell, whose long suit was 
 a literal precision of language in all things, hence his 
 immense reputation for hard-headed clear-thinking 
 among the journalists of his country. " I shouldn't 
 advise going out of our way to insult him." 
 
 "Wouldn't you, by Gad!" said Rockingham, who 
 was seated opposite the member for South East
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 223 
 
 Leeds, with a rather formidable air. "Wouldn't 
 you, by Gad!" 
 
 Smith-ffolliott felt obliged to snigger furtively into 
 his coffee cup. 
 
 "No, I wouldn't," said Mr. Ansell with statesman- 
 like decision. 
 
 "We mustn't then," lisped a quizzical person very 
 softly. 
 
 Mr. Ansell rose from the table with the air of one 
 who has once again saved the empire and exchanged 
 the remains of a sole for some delightfully cooked 
 kidneys and bacon. 
 
 "Does Lady Aline know that Draper is expected?" 
 he asked, as he resumed his place at the table. 
 
 "I am afraid I have no information I can place at 
 your disposal," said the host with a dryness he sel- 
 dom achieved.
 
 II 
 
 BEFORE the morning was far advanced com- 
 plaints were general that neither letters nor 
 newspapers had arrived. Moreover, it was impos- 
 sible to get a London call on the telephone. Inquiry 
 at the post-office in the village threw no light on these 
 matters. The postmaster merely knew that the 
 trains were not running to Deighton, the nearest 
 railway station, three miles off, and that for some 
 mysterious reason it was impossible to get into any 
 sort of communication with the metropolis. 
 
 A rather sinister feeling of uneasiness descended 
 upon the Cloudesley house-party. The members of 
 it were in a position to know that the fate of the 
 nation was hanging upon a thread. Had the blow 
 fallen? Had revolution, had civil war, broken out? 
 These questions were asked freely, and for a time 
 none was able to give an answer. 
 
 About eleven o'clock, however, news came. At 
 that hour a King's messenger arrived in a motor car. 
 He brought an urgent request from the King that 
 Loring should go up to London at once. In the letter 
 which the King had sent to the master of Cloudesley 
 
 224
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 225 
 
 he stated that the events of the last twelve hours had 
 made it imperative that a committee of public safety 
 should be formed without a moment's delay. Such 
 a committee had been called into being already, 
 and Mr. Draper had been temporarily appointed 
 president. 
 
 It was the King's desire that Rockingham, Maul- 
 everer, Ansell, and the other distinguished members 
 of the Right at present in conclave at Cloudesley, 
 should remain where they were until such a time as 
 they had been able to reach a definite decision 
 respecting the formation of a Government. They 
 had until the following Monday at noon in which to 
 promulgate it. The King hoped that in spite of the 
 exceedingly perilous state of the country it would 
 be possible for Grundy and Draper to leave the 
 metropolis for a few hours on Sunday in order to meet 
 the Duke and his advisers at Cloudesley. 
 
 The messenger, whose name was Brandreth, was 
 able to supply a number of details which had been 
 omitted from the royal communication. It seemed 
 that a general strike had been declared. It embraced 
 all the lower grades of wage-earners, with the ex- 
 ception of the Navy, the Army, and the Police. And 
 in Wales and in the North even among the two latter 
 classes there was said to be a grave fear of disaffec- 
 tion. Sedition was reported to be rife on every hand. 
 The whole country was in imminent peril. The
 
 226 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Workers' League, with its anti-social propaganda, 
 and its millions of subscribers pledged to advance it 
 by every means in their power, had brought the life 
 of the nation to a standstill. 
 
 The members of the Cloudesley house-party were 
 without exception the bulwarks of the class which 
 had all to lose. They did not need to be told what 
 lay behind the declaration of war on the part of the 
 League. The gauge of battle had been thrown down 
 because in the opinion of its leaders the hour was 
 favourable in which to wage the bitterest civil strife 
 since the terrible days of 1642. The land of England 
 for the People of England was the motto emblazoned 
 on the banners of the League. 
 
 In the eyes of God and the Law, said the chief 
 spokesman of the League, all men are equal. The 
 hour is here, my brothers, in which to make an end 
 forever of a vain, pretentious, idle, and corrupt plu- 
 tocracy. These people who do nothing but pursue 
 their worthless and ridiculous pleasures, who enclose 
 all the fairest and noblest portions of the island for 
 their own private playgrounds, must show cause and 
 make good, else they will not be allowed to continue. 
 Great Britain is the gift of God to the people of 
 Great Britain, it is not the perquisite of a handful of 
 commercial adventurers mainly cosmopolitan in 
 their origin, however subtly they may in some cases 
 have concealed the sources of their wealth.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 227 
 
 Rockingham, the owner of one half an English 
 county and about one twelfth of Scotland, seemed 
 less perturbed by the news than anybody. He was 
 an extremely clear-sighted man, and on occasion he 
 had the habit of expressing his mind with a cynicism 
 which even his closest friends found repellent. 
 
 "I wonder that the fools have let us go on so long," 
 had been his historic comment on the propaganda 
 of the League. And he took the declaration of war 
 with equal coolness. 
 
 Loring, less developed mentally, yet with almost 
 as much to lose, was hardly equal to this philosophi- 
 cal aloofness. More famous as a sportsman than as 
 a politician, it was in his capacity of an honest, forth- 
 right, rather rough but decidedly shrewd fellow that 
 he bore his part in public affairs. It is always good 
 for a nation that men of this type, with a wide if 
 superficial knowledge of the world, should be called 
 to its councils in a time of crisis. Loring was not 
 actively a politician, but his tremendous Britishness 
 made him a person of considerable weight in any 
 assembly of his countrymen. He was the incarna- 
 tion of the average man; a good fellow to boot; one 
 whose animal passions and fighting instincts had 
 been dulled by hyperculture. 
 
 " If the dirty dogs are out for a fight," said Loring, 
 " I expect we can give 'em their bellyful at that game.. 
 Eh, Evan, what say you?"
 
 228 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Mr. Evan Mauleverer, that prince of reactionaries 
 who was never visible until noon, had just sauntered 
 down into the hall. 
 
 "Why, cert'nly, my dear fellow," lisped the silver- 
 haired leader of the Right with the rather obvious 
 and carefully cultivated charm of manner which he 
 sometimes put to infamous uses. "A whiff of grape- 
 shot. There's nothing like it." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer adjusted his pince-nez with a 
 languor it would have been easy to mistake for 
 indifference. Gazing coolly around the circle of 
 gravely anxious faces his eye fell on Brandreth, 
 the King's messenger, who was known to him. 
 
 "Hulloa, Brandreth," he said, "what's the matter 
 now?" 
 
 Loring explained. There was considerable fervour 
 in the recital. It was terminated by the appearance 
 of a servant with his master's fur travelling coat and 
 soft felt hat. 
 
 "I shall be back to dinner, I hope," said the 
 host. "In any case I shall be here by lunch-time 
 to-morrow. And I shall try to induce Grundy 
 and Draper to come with me." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer laughed ironically. "I'll bet 
 you a sovereign you don't get Draper," he said. 
 
 " I'll bet you a sovereign I do," said Loring with an 
 air of conviction. "That is, of course, if he can be 
 spared."
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 229 
 
 "He'll not come down here, you'll see," said the 
 leader of the Right. "Why should he?" 
 
 "Why shouldn't he?" 
 
 " Why shouldn't he ? " Evan Mauleverer gathered 
 himself in the slow and calm manner that made him 
 so formidable in all kinds of debate. "My dear 
 fellow, do you ask the question seriously?" 
 
 "Yes, I do." Loring stood his ground with the 
 tenacity of the plain man who is rather proud of his 
 limitations. 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you" -Evan Mauleverer slowly 
 readjusted his pince-nez for no obvious reason beyond 
 "a sense of the theatre" "the 'Haberdasher' has 
 now every ace in the pack. And if he plays his hand 
 carefully he will be the first president of the new 
 republic." 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer's unqualified opinion drew sharp 
 cries of dissent from all save Rockingham, who was 
 merely content to shrug his high shoulders and to 
 smile to himself. 
 
 "Never!" rose a deep-voiced chorus. 
 
 There were several women present, and these 
 expressed themselves more at large. The hostess, 
 a daughter of an old governing family, grew very 
 red in the face. 
 
 "My dear Evan," she said in a rather unpleasantly 
 high-pitched voice, "I don't think any man who 
 calls himself an Englishman should say that."
 
 230 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer bowed a stately gray head. 
 
 "I agree, my dear Alice," he said with an assump- 
 tion of humility that was absolutely disarming. " I 
 quite agree. I beg pardon." 
 
 Rockingham, however, seemed amused. 
 
 "But why not look the facts in the face, my 
 dear Alice?" he interposed in his rather elaborate 
 manner. 
 
 The hostess at once joined issue with a spirit that 
 lent a kind of beauty to her homely countenance. 
 
 "It shall not be said in this house, Robert," said 
 she. "You must please understand that." 
 
 "Alice is quite right, my dear Robert," said Mr. 
 Mauleverer with gallantry. 
 
 "Well, what do you say, Aline?" said the Duke, 
 mischievously tenacious of his point. 
 
 His question was addressed to the wife of Draper. 
 Lady Aline must have been conscious of the fact that 
 twenty pairs of eyes were pinned upon her. She 
 grew very white. Beyond that, however, she be- 
 trayed no visible evidence of discomposure. 
 
 "I quite agree with Aunt Alice," she said in a cold, 
 quiet tone. 
 
 A snub was intended; but the woman was not born 
 who could administer a snub to a man of the type of 
 Rockingham. 
 
 He proceeded to look her down steadily from his 
 great height.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 231 
 
 "Don't be a little fool," he said in a tone half play- 
 ful, half contemptuous. "We can't allow you to 
 play the ostrich and bury your head in the sand. 
 You at least ought to know that the 'Haberdasher' 
 is capable de tout." 
 
 Lady Aline made no rejoinder to this studied and 
 slightly brutal insolence. She bit her lip and the 
 proud face turned to the colour of snow. Rocking- 
 ham had scored rather heavily, and in their inmost 
 hearts the group of observers were not sorry. It 
 was generally supposed that Lady Aline had already 
 repented of her crime of marrying Draper, but her 
 own world had not forgiven her, and it never would. 
 
 She stood like a small statue exquisitely wrought. 
 Her slight form was tense, but the sensitive mouth 
 trembled a little. Suddenly with an impulse of 
 maternal kindness her aunt placed her arm about 
 her waist and led her away from the others and out 
 of the hall.
 
 Ill 
 
 AS THE day wore on it seemed to generate a 
 smouldering excitement. Certainly the atmos- 
 phere of the luncheon-table was surcharged with 
 electricity. The other members of the proposed 
 cabinet, one and all cast into a state of excitement 
 they were hardly able to repress, were a little inclined 
 to resent the supineness of Mauleverer and the 
 cynicism of Rockingham. These were their proph- 
 ets. To these they looked for bread, and both 
 appeared to be content to offer sustenance in the 
 form of a few carefully selected stones. 
 
 In the afternoon, over whisky and cigars, there was 
 a discussion upon the subject of general tactics. 
 It soon grew rather heated. The Yorkshire manu- 
 facturer was strongly in favour of force majeure. 
 
 "If the devils won't work Pd make 'em," said he. 
 "We've got the finest artillery in the world, and I'd 
 blow 'em to blazes sooner than stand their nonsense." 
 
 "That is theoretically sound, no doubt, my dear 
 Ansell," said Mr. Mauleverer. "But are you ab- 
 solutely sure of your artillery?" 
 
 "Why, of course I am," said the Patriot at Large, 
 
 232
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 233 
 
 "and so is every man worthy of the name of English- 
 man. I'll stake every penny I possess on the abso- 
 lute loyalty of our troops." 
 
 "That is all right then," said Mr. Evan Maul- 
 everer with his rather affected lisp. "That is very 
 reassuring. And is one entitled to suppose that 
 this requisition that has been signed by the non- 
 commissioned officers and the rank and file of 
 twenty-eight regiments for a considerable increase 
 of pay, better facilities of promotion to the commis- 
 sioned ranks, a more liberal scheme of pensions, and 
 more humane treatment of time-expired men, really 
 amounts to nothing?" 
 
 "Practically nothing, I assure you, when the mon- 
 archy is in danger. I am absolutely convinced that 
 our soldiers are loyal to a man, and no Englishman 
 worthy of the name could ever bring himself to think 
 otherwise." 
 
 "Well, it is very reassuring," said Mr. Mauleverer, 
 relapsing into a condition of impending somnolence. 
 "One is being constantly reminded that the masses 
 are losing the sense of romance." 
 
 "Would you define an Englishman's loyalty to 
 the Throne as being based on a sense of romance?" 
 
 "Yes for want of a more exact definition," said 
 Mr. Mauleverer warily. 
 
 "Oh, but surely!" Mr. Ansell spread his hands, a 
 gesture inherited from his chapel-going forebears.
 
 234 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Take away the monarchy and you take away all 
 that we have. An imperishable and unique tradition. 
 Upon my word, Mauleverer, I hardly see what it has 
 to do with a sense of romance." 
 
 "Doesn't it all rather depend, my dear Ansell, 
 upon the angle of vision at which one happens to 
 see things?" said the leader of the Right, who 
 appeared to be approaching perilously near to slum- 
 ber. "For example, those tin-bellied donkeys prowl- 
 ing up and down St. James's Street every blessed 
 morning of their lives are part of a unique tradition, 
 but personally I was sick to death at the sight of 'em 
 at the age of two and twenty when I was a young 
 chap in the Guards." 
 
 "My dear Mauleverer," said his colleague, shocked 
 not a little, "I am afraid you are decadent. Satiated 
 with every pleasure, you appear to have outlived 
 every emotion. It is one of the griefs of my life that 
 I have been so ill-advised as to send my boy to Eton. 
 The atmosphere of Leeds Grammar School, where 
 his father was educated before him, is in every way 
 so much more wholesome." 
 
 "I doubt whether you would have got him into 
 the Blues had Leeds Grammar School been his Alma 
 Mater," murmured Mr. Mauleverer. "Although 
 one has always understood that that seat of learning 
 is in every way an admirable institution." 
 
 "That is undoubtedly the case, my dear Maul-
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 235 
 
 everer," said Mr. Ansell with enthusiasm. "At 
 Leeds Grammar School they form character. They 
 make men. I speak from first-hand experience. It 
 is there that I received my own early training." 
 
 "You do it the very greatest credit, my dear 
 Ansell," said the leader of the Right, almost as one 
 who talks in his sleep, "if I may be allowed to say 
 so. But why, if I may ask the question, did you not 
 let well alone? Leeds Grammar School having ful- 
 filled its functions so admirably in the case of the 
 father, why was it not permitted to have a chance 
 with the son?" 
 
 "If I must confess the truth, it was simply that I 
 allowed myself to be overruled by my wife," said 
 Mr. Ansell, with a slight display of embarrassment. 
 
 "Then you desire that your wife should accept 
 sole responsibility for the workings of the modern 
 spirit, which apparently is unable to let well alone?" 
 
 "Perhaps, my dear Mauleverer, if you put it in 
 that way I must accept a little of the responsibility 
 myself." 
 
 "I am glad you do, my dear fellow, because that 
 will help me to prove my point. Everything is in a 
 state of flux. For better or for worse our ideas 
 about everything are changing. A generation back 
 the few governed the many. Now the many are 
 governing the few. I don't say it is good, I don't 
 say it is not good, but I agree with Rockingham that
 
 236 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 the time has come when we must look the facts in 
 the face." 
 
 "Frankly, my dear Mauleverer, I am in total dis- 
 agreement with Rockingham and yourself. The 
 many have never been able to govern in this country, 
 and they never will." 
 
 "It is rather soon to begin disagreeing with Rock- 
 ingham, isn't it?" murmured the leader of the Right, 
 himself the prince of reactionaries, "having regard 
 to the fact that it is only last evening that he invited 
 you into his Government." 
 
 Thereupon the leader of the Right put his feet on 
 the sofa on which he sat, and gave himself up entirely 
 to the slumber which he was no longer able to resist.
 
 IV 
 
 CONTRARY to expectation, Loring returned 
 that evening in time for dinner. He brought 
 back grave tidings. A strong-willed, resolute man, 
 he did not yield readily to panic, but there could 
 be no doubt that the country was in the throes of a 
 deep and organized revolt against the established 
 order. Not only were the propertied classes in 
 danger of being shorn of their possessions, but also 
 the monarchy itself was seriously menaced. Up 
 till five o'clock that evening, the hour at which Lor- 
 ing had left London, no breaches of the peace had 
 been reported in the metropolis itself, but all shops, 
 offices, warehouses, and public buildings were closed 
 and barricaded; no newspapers were being issued; 
 every form of business was at a standstill; neither 
 telephones nor telegraphs were working; the postal 
 service was suspended; trains and omnibuses were 
 not running, and continual rumours were being 
 spread of the grave condition of things in the country. 
 The King remained in town, but the Queen, yield- 
 ing to the earnest entreaties of a hastily improvised 
 committee of public safety, had left London during 
 
 237
 
 238 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 the day under a strong escort. A rumour was rife 
 that one hundred thousand miners from the North 
 were marching upon the metropolis. Moreover, it 
 was certain that if the present condition of things 
 prevailed until that day week, London and the larger 
 towns would be in the throes of famine. 
 
 All modes of transport had broken down. Ar- 
 rangements were being made for the military to take 
 charge of the railways. Hundreds of miles, however, 
 of permanent way were menaced by the strikers. 
 Portions of it were said to have been torn up already 
 at Derby and Crewe. Thus there were the gravest 
 doubts as to whether there were enough troops in 
 the country efficiently to police the railway system. 
 
 It was clear that almost without exception the 
 humbler ranks of industrial workers were organized 
 in a universal strike. The baker brought no bread, 
 the milk-seller no milk, the postman no letters, the 
 County Council scavenger left the streets of the 
 metropolis unswept. There was no 'bus, tube, tram, 
 nor taxi to be had. There was no traffic in the 
 streets. The parks were infested with huge crowds 
 and raucous orators. Hooligans marched in proces- 
 sion along barricaded thoroughfares, demanding the 
 right to live, and displaying banners bearing such 
 mottoes as England for the English, Down with the 
 Plutocracy, To Hell with the Jews. Already it had 
 been deemed necessary to station a battalion of the
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 239 
 
 Grenadier Guards round the mansion in Park Lane 
 of one who upon a basis of illicit diamond buying had 
 raised a fortune of many millions. And various emi- 
 nent financiers domiciled in the vicinity of Gros- 
 venor Square were having their residences guarded 
 by companies of distinguished regiments. 
 
 At Cloudesley, Loring's return had been awaited 
 eagerly. The leading members of the Right there 
 assembled had come to a decision already. It was 
 that they should urge Rockingham to carry out the 
 King's wishes and form a Government of his own. 
 They were content that it should include Fern and 
 Bayliss, two moderate members of the Left; more- 
 over, it was to include Grundy and Draper. 
 
 Still, it was now clearly realized that James Draper 
 held the key to the whole situation. Whatever 
 Government might be formed he was the one indis- 
 pensable man. Without his loyal co-operation the 
 scheme must fail. The power of his personality had 
 dominated the crisis. It alone had the power to 
 touch the imagination of the masses. Whoever 
 aspired to carry on the business of the country during 
 its present pass could not afford to dispense with the 
 services of this remarkable man. 
 
 One and all, however, assembled in that house 
 were aware that in the nature of things there must 
 be a bitter enmity existing between Draper and 
 Rockingham. There it was pretty clearly under-
 
 2 4 o AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 stood that Draper and his wife were no longer on 
 terms. Moreover, they knew it was idle to burke 
 the fact that in this alienation Rockingham counted 
 as a very important factor. The question of ques- 
 tions was, had Draper the moral strength in the 
 supreme hour of his country's need to rise above a 
 private wrong? Throughout that day, so big with 
 fate, whenever two persons found themselves together 
 in a sequestered corner of the house, the subject was 
 discussed in hushed yet eager tones. 
 
 Immediately dinner was over Evan Mauleverer 
 put his arm through that of his host and led him 
 apart. Mauleverer, a former Prime Minister and 
 the official leader of the Right, was a man of immense 
 ability. Unfortunately, his wilfully and rather 
 perversely narrow mental horizon had caused him 
 to become utterly discredited in the country. Not 
 only was he wholly out of sympathy with the aspira- 
 tions of the masses, but he was convinced that they 
 were a menace to the country's welfare. He held 
 the opinion that universal education was all very 
 well as an academic theory, but that it broke down 
 entirely as a working hypothesis. In his view it 
 was a tragic mistake for any country to educate its 
 proletariat. He had been the author of the Con- 
 scription Bill. In the teeth of tremendous opposition 
 he had carried it to a third reading in the House of 
 Commons, and by so doing had struck an almost
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 241 
 
 irremediable blow at the prestige of his party. In 
 the privacy of social intercourse, however, he was a 
 remarkable and considerable figure. 
 
 When they were entrenched comfortably in a 
 quiet corner with their coffee and cigars, Loring said : 
 
 "I want your advice, Evan." 
 
 Mauleverer gazed at his host with a rather quiz- 
 zical air. 
 
 "Before I give it, my dear fellow," he said, "what- 
 ever the nature of it may be, I would like to ask a 
 question. Is Draper coming down here to-morrow ?"' 
 
 "Yes," said Loring. "I understand that to be 
 his intention." 
 
 The leader of the Right nodded his head. 
 
 "I'll confess," he said, "that I didn't for a moment 
 think he would." 
 
 "Nor I," said Loring. "But, as Robert says, he's 
 a man about whom it doesn't do to anticipate. When 
 I got to the Palace I found the beggar installed as a 
 kind of generalissimo. We held a kind of council 
 of war. He sat on the King's right hand, and Rich- 
 ards and Mitchener on his left." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer raised his eyebrows slightly. 
 
 "The President of the Committee of Public Safety, 
 eh?" he said. "But why a civilian? Why not 
 Mitchener?" 
 
 "Well, I gathered that the King rather insisted 
 on it."
 
 242 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Very unwise?" 
 
 "It seems so to most people. From what one or 
 two of the household chaps say, he seems to have 
 got the top side of the King altogether." 
 
 "What do Richards and Mitchener say about 
 it?" 
 
 "Well, they seem to think it is a job for a civilian 
 at present. They say that if they have to take it in 
 hand nothing can save bloodshed." 
 
 "Who said that?" 
 
 "Both of 'em. They think that Draper is the 
 only man who can possibly avert civil war." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer pensively stirred his coffee. 
 
 " If that is the case," he said, speaking very slowly, 
 "to my mind the remedy is rather worse than the 
 disease." 
 
 "I am inclined to think you are right, Evan," said 
 Loring, with his accustomed bluntness. "That 
 fellow is playing a double game. He plays for the 
 people one minute and he plays for us the next." 
 
 "And he comes down here to-morrow?" 
 
 "Yes, that's his present intention." 
 
 "To meet Robert?" 
 
 "Ostensibly to meet Robert." 
 
 "Does he know his wife is here?" 
 
 "Evelyn says he does." 
 
 "Ha! you've seen her" 
 
 "Yes, I just had time to call at Rockingham
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 243 
 
 House. I thought it just as well to get to know all 
 there was to be known." 
 
 "Quite so." 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer smiled. 
 
 " She is certainly the ablest woman in England," 
 said he. 
 
 "And to my mind she is the most enigmatical." 
 
 "She's always been beyond me," said Loring. 
 
 "But, then, I admit Fm a dunce. But she's made 
 up her mind to do what I am certain is absolutely the 
 unwisest thing she can do." 
 
 "What's that?" inquired Evan Mauleverer, wear- 
 ing the cloak of indifference a little less effectually 
 than usual. 
 
 "We are now coming to the subject I want your 
 advice upon." 
 
 "Well, my dear fellow?" Evan Mauleverer's 
 quizzical eyes were only half-veiled. 
 
 "Evelyn is coming down here some time to-night. 
 Alice is in a terrible rage. She is capable of refusing 
 her house-room." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer pensively smoked his cigar. 
 
 "My dear Loring," he said at last, "it seems to me 
 that all of us are getting pretty hopelessly into the 
 mire. What on earth is she coming here for? " 
 
 "She seems to think she may be able to help us 
 a bit." 
 
 "My God!"
 
 244 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer's invocation of the Deity seemed 
 to afford him little consolation. 
 
 "It is sheer madness, my dear fellow, for her to 
 come down here!" 
 
 "I told her so," said the master of Cloudesley. 
 
 "And what did she say to that?" 
 
 "She seemed to think I was too big a dunce to 
 have any opinion on the subject." 
 
 "But surely you told her, my dear fellow, that her 
 presence here was bound to aggravate a situation 
 that was already almost intolerable?" 
 
 "Yes, of course. But she is a very self-willed 
 woman." 
 
 A frown knitted the intellectual front of Mr. Evan 
 Mauleverer. 
 
 "She is not showing her usual good sense," he said. 
 
 "One is bound to admit that. What in the world 
 can she hope to do?" 
 
 "There's no saying, my dear Evan. There's no 
 accounting for a woman's mind. But with her 
 coming down to-night, and her friend the ' Haber- 
 dasher* coming down to-morrow, everything seems 
 to point to our having a pretty lively week-end." 
 
 "Yes, by Gad!" agreed Mr. Evan Mauleverer. 
 
 "What I want to know is, what's to be done about 
 Aline? This house is going to be no place for her." 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer pondered at rather considerable 
 length.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 245 
 
 "Aline can be trusted to take care of herself, can't 
 she?" he said at last. 
 
 "Ye-es, one would suppose. But is Draper to be 
 trusted? that is the point." 
 
 "Trusted for what?" 
 
 "To behave like a gentleman." 
 
 "Ha, there you have me," said Mr. Evan Maul- 
 everer. "Hardly the horse for that course, eh? " 
 
 "You think he is capable of making himself 
 damned unpleasant?" 
 
 "Certainly capable, but hardly likely." 
 
 "Well, he'd got a pretty queer look in his eyes 
 when he said he was coming down here to-morrow 
 to confer with Rockingham." 
 
 "Did he ask whether his wife was still here?" 
 
 "No, he never mentioned her." 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer grew reflective. 
 
 "Well," he said finally, "if the man is the patriot 
 he is represented to be, he will be content to forget 
 all domesticities at such a time as this." 
 
 Loring shook his head despondently. 
 
 "We'll hope so, at any rate," he said. "But he's 
 a rough devil, I'm certain. Although, mind you, 
 he is a big man in his way." 
 
 "The question is, my dear fellow, is he a big 
 enough man to keep the King upon his throne, and 
 at the same time to exact his pound of flesh from 
 Rockingham ? "
 
 246 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Personally, I would say yes." 
 
 "That is to say, you think he is entitled to his 
 pound of flesh from that quarter?" 
 
 "Do you press the question?" 
 
 "Yes, I do rather. Leaving this unpleasant game 
 of politics out of the case, tell me what is the precise 
 view you take of 1'affaire Rockingham?" 
 
 "Well, as Robert is my guest, I think I'd prefer 
 not to express it." 
 
 "But I particularly want your opinion, my dear 
 fellow. This is a matter upon which I crave for 
 guidance. Before to-morrow is out we may all have 
 to crave it. Let me put it in this form: Has 
 anything occurred within, shall we say, the past 
 forty-eight hours to change your views in regard 
 to Robert." 
 
 Loring hesitated. 
 
 "Well, Evan," he said at last, "if you press the 
 question I am bound to say my view of Robert has 
 changed a good bit lately." 
 
 "I feared it." 
 
 In spite of an air of detachment that never deserted 
 him, Evan Mauleverer was visibly discomposed. 
 
 "Well, I'm sorry," he said. "Pm sincerely sorry. 
 This poor old land of ours never had such a need of a 
 straight man, of a man who was absolutely straight 
 in every relation of life."
 
 A PAUSE followed upon the expression of this 
 dictum by the leader of the Right. Both men 
 looked a little uneasy. 
 
 "You see the dilemma?" said Loring at last. 
 
 "In regard to Draper's wife?" 
 
 "Yes. I don't like to go over the mark, but I 
 call a spade a spade. I'm convinced Robert has used 
 Aline as his tool in order that he might score off her 
 husband." 
 
 Evan Mauleverer stayed his host with an elegantly 
 uplifted hand. Loring's bluntness was proverbial, 
 but there were occasions when it was a little too much 
 for a fastidious mind. 
 
 "My dear fellow," said the leader of the Right, 
 "pray don't forget that we are all of us pledged to sit 
 in a Rockingham Cabinet." 
 
 " I'm not a politician myself," said the incorrigible 
 Loring, "and I thank my God I'm not." 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer was fain to smile, in spite of the 
 discomposure he was suffering. But his state of 
 mind did not allow him to stray far from the subject 
 in hand. 
 
 247
 
 248 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Tell me, my dear fellow," he said, "what is 
 responsible for this rather sudden change of heart?" 
 
 "Do you mean in regard to Rockingham?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, partly it is due to Evelyn, whom with all 
 her crochets I believe to be an honest woman, and 
 partly to something that Aline said to my wife." 
 
 "At all events, my lord duke appears to have cast 
 a considerable amount of dust in the eyes of the 
 King." 
 
 "Not a very difficult proceeding. But by no 
 means so much, Evan, as you'd think. Anyhow, 
 I'm not sure that the King has not been on the right 
 horse from the start." 
 
 "Draper?" 
 
 "Yes. He has the whole country behind him now, 
 and with all respect to you fellows he is the only man 
 who can keep things in hand." 
 
 "We shall see what we shall see," said Mr. Evan 
 Mauleverer stoically. "To-morrow may tell us 
 something." 
 
 "Yes, I think it will. But to return to the sub- 
 ject of Aline. I should like her to leave this house 
 before Draper arrives." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Mark my words, Evan, that's an ugly devil when 
 he's crossed." 
 
 " But what can he do? "
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 249 
 
 "He can make himself damned unpleasant." 
 
 "In what way?" 
 
 "There are several ways open to an injured hus- 
 band. I say frankly that I would give a good deal 
 for the fellow not to be coming down here." 
 
 "But you don't think he will be such a fool as to 
 make a public exhibition of himself! He's much too 
 calculating, and he has himself too well in hand." 
 
 "Maybe. At any rate we'll hope so. But you 
 can't trust a man of that type that's my feeling. 
 Anyhow, I'd give a good deal for him not to be com- 
 ing down here to-morrow." 
 
 "I also, if it comes to that. And if your diagnosis 
 is accurate it makes it practically impossible for him 
 to sit in a Rockingham Cabinet?" 
 
 "Of course it does." 
 
 "Well, what's the alternative?" 
 
 "A cabinet of his own, I expect." 
 
 "Do you believe such a cabinet to be possible?" 
 
 "Don't you?" 
 
 No reply to the question was forthcoming from 
 the Leader of the Right. 
 
 Both these men, staunch representatives of an 
 order of things that was literally fighting for existence 
 with its back to the wall, made no attempt to cloak 
 their feelings. In their different ways they were both 
 men of wide experience. But events had moved 
 at such an alarming rate during the past few days
 
 250 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 that they were conscious of having been carried out 
 of their depth by an interplay of forces they were 
 powerless to resist. Not only had they completely 
 lost their bearings, but somehow they seemed to have 
 lost their foothold in the world. Versed as they were 
 in many kinds of affairs, they did not know in the 
 least how to gauge the elements which were striking 
 a succession of terrible, paralyzing blows at all that 
 they stood for. 
 
 This sinister and deep-seated uneasiness was 
 common to every person under that roof. All were 
 by this time aware that the fate of the country 
 depended on a single man upon a man whom from 
 the depths of their souls they disliked and despised. 
 No true-blue member of the Right had ever deigned 
 to dissemble his feelings in regard to the President 
 of the Board of Conciliation, and now that their 
 personal interests together with those of the nation 
 at large were about to be given over to- him they had 
 not the slightest reason to expect the leniency that 
 they themselves would have been the last to grant. 
 
 That evening, a little before eleven o'clock, Eve- 
 lyn Rockingham arrived from town by motor-car. 
 Her entrance into the dismayed Cloudesley drawing- 
 room, dressed with all the careful but rather severe 
 simplicity she affected at an evening party, was a 
 splendid piece of comedy, although it called un- 
 doubtedly for an esprit fort to carry it off.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 251 
 
 The hostess turned pale as she rose to receive the 
 uninvited guest. Herself a woman of strong char- 
 acter, she knew well enough how to sustain the dig- 
 nity of her position. Her reception of the intruder 
 was the reverse of cordial, although only a woman 
 could have told that cordiality was not intended. 
 In any circumstances, however, and at whatever dis- 
 advantage she might be placed, Evelyn Rockingham 
 was a great-spirited woman, and more than a match 
 for any member of her own sex. 
 
 "My dear Evelyn," was the hostess's greeting 
 in her rather high-pitched voice, "this is an unex- 
 pected pleasure." 
 
 Absolutely direct and unconventional in speech, 
 manner, and deed, Evelyn Rockingham placed a hand 
 on each of Alice Loring's shoulders, although she must 
 have been aware that behind her smile of welcome 
 the mistress of Cloudesley was seething with anger. 
 
 "I felt I must come," said Evelyn. "I felt bound 
 to come. I can appreciate your feelings, my dear, 
 but it simply had to be. England is more than any 
 of us, although you'll think that's cant. But I'll 
 risk that. I don't care what you think, my dear. 
 I don't care what any of you think." With a high 
 imperious gesture she suddenly flung up her fine 
 head and met unflinchingly the circle of astonished 
 faces that formed a background to the room. "I 
 am beyond caring what any of you think." There
 
 252 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 was a curious, an almost perilous, quiver, in the voice. 
 "Except" her voice almost failed "except you, 
 my dear, dear Lord Peveril!" 
 
 As she spoke she strode past Alice Loring across 
 the wide drawing-room to where a venerable white- 
 bearded man sat very upright in a straight-backed 
 chair. Impulsively she extended both her hands, 
 and at the same instant the wonderful eyes set deep 
 in the haggard cheeks brimmed tears. 
 
 The old man, very frail and ascetic looking, rose 
 slowly to greet her. He yielded his gaunt hands in 
 response to hers, and the gesture had in it all the 
 tenderness of a father receiving a favourite daughter. 
 
 "Quite right, quite right, dear child," he said in 
 a voice that was very gentle; "if you think you can 
 help us, ever so little. I am sure we all feel that." 
 
 In his capacity of host Loring strode across the 
 room. 
 
 "Delighted to see you, Evelyn," he said with 
 a rough cordiality which made an effect of absolute 
 sincerity, whether it was entitled to do so or not. 
 "Always delighted to see you. In this house, and at 
 anytime, you are always welcome. At such a time 
 as this you are more than welcome." 
 
 Evelyn's response was frank and immediate. 
 
 "Thank you, Loring," she said, with her noble air. 
 "You deserve well of your country far better 
 than some of 'em. Yes, I mean you, Evan, for one."
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 253 
 
 Half the room was included in her brilliant sweeping 
 gesture. "You are too much of a Briton, Loring, 
 to misjudge me at such a time as this. But I don't 
 intend to put Alice out. I have engaged a room at 
 the inn in the village the Coach and Horses 
 where I shall sleep." 
 
 The host was very firm, however. 
 
 "No, Evelyn, " he said, "we can't allow that. 
 House-room is not so scarce as all that. Here you 
 are, and here you've got to stay that's if you'll 
 honour us."
 
 VI 
 
 EVELYN ROCKINGHAM'S arrival had aston- 
 ished everybody. Her audacity was proverbial. 
 In all her actions she was a law unto herself; 
 but in the opinion of a majority of the guests a 
 surprise visit to Cloudesley in such circumstances 
 was merely a piece of insolent foolhardiness. But 
 even the Evelyn Rockinghams of the world do not 
 act entirely from caprice. What had brought her 
 down there? was the question each person asked of 
 his or her neighbour. 
 
 Lady Aline was seated on a distant sofa, half 
 hidden in a recess, and Rockingham was by her side. 
 They had hardly paused in their conversation when 
 the unwelcome guest had entered the room, and 
 they proceeded completely to ignore her presence. 
 Those near to them, however, who happened to have 
 a nose for drama, were by no means insensible of 
 theirs. Veiled and stealthy glances were levelled 
 in their direction from time to time. Certainly the 
 situation was piquant; and the mask of consummate 
 indifference presented by the chief personages in it 
 was felt to be acting of the highest order. 
 
 254
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 255 
 
 Evelyn herself, accustomed by divine right of 
 personality to dominate all assemblies in which she 
 happened to be, was of course the cynosure of every 
 eye. After a little tour of greeting she seated herself 
 on a sofa by the side of the venerable Lord Peveril. 
 He was her godfather; and if hardly a great, he was 
 certainly a very high, type of man. He had sound 
 judgment, high principles, and an almost passionate 
 devotion to his country. Had he been anything of a 
 publicist he might, without impropriety, have now 
 stood in the place of Rockingham. His name ap- 
 peared seldom in the newspapers, yet he had been 
 the familiar friend and the chosen adviser of three 
 sovereigns. Those who moved in the inner circles 
 of politics and society knew that in some things he 
 possessed an almost unique authority. He had 
 always stood aloof from party; his voice had never 
 been heard in "the gilded chamber," but for thirty 
 years he had been a power behind the throne. 
 
 He had come to Cloudesley at the request of the 
 King. The members of the Right were perhaps 
 better able to appraise his worth than any other 
 political section. They were not a little grateful 
 for his presence. Of advice he had been sparing, 
 as was his wont, for like most men of weight he was 
 not a great talker. But he had counselled absolute 
 loyalty to Rockingham, since Rockingham in a 
 sense was the nominee of the Throne.
 
 256 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 He had a real affection for his god-daughter, now 
 seated by his side. He had been the husband of one 
 of the most remarkable women of the time, and like 
 all men of a high type he had known how to love 
 and to admire. He held an exalted opinion of 
 women without idealizing them unduly. They were 
 essential to the human race, and they also ennobled 
 it. Such a man was not likely to misjudge a woman 
 of the quality of Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "You don't censure me, Lord Peveril?" she said 
 in a very low, half-pleading voice. 
 
 "Censure you for what, my dear?" 
 
 The old man took one of the exquisitely formed 
 hands, entirely innocent of feminine adornment, 
 fondly into his keeping. 
 
 "For coming here to-night." 
 
 "On the contrary, I think it particularly right, if 
 in any way you feel you can help us. " 
 
 Evelyn drew a sigh of relief. 
 
 "I am so glad you have not lost your confidence 
 in me. I hope you will always trust me." 
 
 "I will always do that," said the old man, very 
 gently. 
 
 She placed her other hand very tenderly in his. 
 
 "You cannot think how glad I am to hear you say 
 that, dear friend. There is only one other person 
 in the country for whose opinion I have an equal 
 respect.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 257 
 
 "You are too kind, my dear. Far, far too kind." 
 
 "There is only one other man I have met who has 
 your perception." 
 
 "You rate me far too highly, my dear. But do 
 you mind telling me the name of this paladin?" 
 
 "I think you ought to be able to guess." 
 
 "Robert?" There was a mischievous twinkle in 
 the eyes of the old man. 
 
 "You mustn't trifle with me," she said. 
 
 "Well, I'm afraid it isn't Evan Mauleverer, with 
 all his merits. Grundy always strikes one as a good 
 and sincere man. Him do you mean?" 
 
 "No; although I am convinced he is quite a good 
 man as far as he goes. No, I mean the President 
 of the Committee of Public Safety. " 
 
 "Ha! Well, you know him better than I do, my 
 dear. The King certainly thinks well of him. " 
 
 "And you, Lord Peveril?" The tone was not 
 without a note of slight anxiety. 
 
 Lord Peveril was silent. 
 
 "You see," he said, "one has had so few oppor- 
 tunities of judging the man. I have met him only 
 twice in my life. He impresses one with his force - 
 the kind of force that Gladstone had. But you know, 
 my dear, it isn't ever very easy to make a silk purse." 
 
 "Out of the wrong material? Yes, my dear lord, 
 but isn't there a danger of jumping a little too hastily 
 to the conclusion that it is the wrong material?
 
 258 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Appearances are apt to be deceptive, aren't they? 
 One expects you to have a bias in favour of birth. 
 We all have that. It is only natural. But don't 
 let us forget that it isn't birth that produces genius." 
 
 "What is it, then, my dear?" 
 
 "I must refer you to the Eugenists. But singu- 
 larly few men of the very first rank have come out 
 of our class." 
 
 "I am not so sure about that, my dear," said the 
 old aristocrat, shaking his head rather dubiously. 
 
 "There can be no doubt of it," said his god- 
 daughter, with the conviction that was a part of 
 her charm. 
 
 "Well, even if it is so," said the old man with a 
 gallant refusal to contest the point, "do you put this 
 man Draper in absolutely the front rank?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I am interested to hear you say that. Heaven 
 knows, we never had a greater need of such a one. " 
 
 "Well, we have him. And I think he is going to 
 save his country, if only his country will give him 
 the chance." 
 
 "What sort of a chance can she give him, my 
 dear?" 
 
 "She must make him her next Prime Minister." 
 
 "But that's impossible. These fellows here 
 wouldn't hear of it. Besides, the King has nom- 
 inated Robert."
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 259 
 
 "Yes, but the country has nominated Draper." 
 
 "Then it would seem that he will have to choose 
 between the country and the King. " 
 
 " I pray not. That way lies civil war. " 
 
 "But in any case he is hardly likely to desert the 
 Throne." 
 
 " I am sure he will not. But the Throne must not 
 desert him. And I appeal to you, my dear lord, to 
 throw the whole weight of your personal authority 
 into the scale if you would save the country. " 
 
 The old man sat gravely silent. After all, this 
 was only the expression of a woman's opinion, but 
 Evelyn Rockingham was a woman whom he had 
 learned to respect immensely. Her opinion, more- 
 over, confirmed others that had recently come to his 
 his ears. 
 
 "I must confess," said the old man at length, 
 "that it seems impossible at the eleventh hour to go 
 back on the King's nominee. " 
 
 "But if the King withdraws his nomination?" 
 
 "Ah, then! Yet in the circumstances that is 
 impossible too. Robert has formed his ministry, 
 I understand." 
 
 "Is Mr. Draper in it?" 
 
 "He is to be President of the Board of Conciliation, 
 I understand." 
 
 "Has he accepted the office?" 
 
 "Provisionally, I believe. At any rate he has
 
 260 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 promised to come here to-morrow to confer with 
 Robert." 
 
 "And that promise is held to be tantamount to 
 acceptance of office?" she asked rather breathlessly. 
 
 "Yes," said Lord Peveril, "that is the view that 
 is held by them all. And let us pray it is not a 
 mistaken one." 
 
 Evelyn was visibly cast down. 
 
 " I feel sure," she said, " they are not entitled to 
 jump to any such conclusion. And, I will go 
 further. In my own mind I am absolutely convinced 
 that he will decline to accept office under Robert. 
 And if he does decline, where will the country 
 be then?" 
 
 Lord Peveril shook his head sorrowfully. 
 
 "There you have me," he said. "That is a 
 contingency that not a man of them appears able to 
 face. But if Draper has the welfare of the country 
 at heart it is hardly a contingency that is likely to 
 arise. After all, he is in very close touch with 
 the King." 
 
 "Yes, Lord Peveril, but he has been used so 
 shamefully. " 
 
 "By whom?" 
 
 "By the Right, and more particularly by Robert." 
 
 Lord Peveril grew silent. Somehow the directness 
 of his god-daughter seemed to embarrass him. For 
 her own part she did not know how to gauge the
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 261 
 
 measure of his information, nor did she know how 
 far it might be accurate. 
 
 Of one harsh fact, however, she was aware: The 
 political enemies of Draper had not scrupled merci- 
 lessly to misrepresent the nature of her own intimacy 
 with him. Enormous capital had been made out 
 of it. Lord Peveril, an honest, simple, and upright 
 man, had had no means of learning the truth. 
 
 She recognized that it was not a moment for half 
 measures. So much might depend upon the line 
 taken by this old man. 
 
 "There is one question I must ask you, my kind 
 friend," she said. "Are you aware that Robert has 
 come between this man and his wife?" 
 
 "I am not aware of it/' said Lord Peveril. 
 
 "Between Aline and her husband! At the in- 
 stance of Robert she has left her husband's house, 
 never to return to it. " 
 
 "I was not aware of the fact," said Lord Peveril 
 rather coldly. 
 
 "Robert has urged the contemptible pretext that 
 Aline is entitled to avenge herself." 
 
 "Upon whom?" 
 
 "Upon her husband, because of his alleged liaison 
 with myself." 
 
 A look of pain overshadowed Lord Peveril's 
 sensitive face. 
 
 "Please forgive me," said his god-daughter,
 
 262 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "but I have come here partly that you, upon whom 
 so much depends, shall learn the truth. Robert's 
 jealousy has led him to play a contemptible part. 
 I ask you to believe me when I say that no act of 
 mine has given him the slightest warrant for enter- 
 taining it. I swear before God that my relations 
 with Mr. Draper have been perfectly honourable. 
 Our friendship has been based upon an intense desire, 
 which we have in common, for the country's welfare. 
 In some ways I may have been a little indiscreet, 
 but there is not the slightest foundation for the 
 charge that has been brought against me. I feel 
 it to be right, Lord Peveril, that you should know 
 this. Robert's jealousy is wholly unwarranted, and 
 he has made use of it in the most contemptible and 
 merciless way in order to compass the ruin of a 
 political adversary." 
 
 The look of pain deepened upon Lord Peveril's 
 face. He remained silent. 
 
 "It is absolutely necessary, Lord Peveril, that 
 this should be known to you. And I ask you to 
 believe me." 
 
 She turned her fine eyes full upon her venerable 
 companion. An acute distress was in both their 
 faces. 
 
 "My dear, I do believe you," said the old man. 
 
 "Thank you, my kind friend." There were tears 
 in her eyes. "And now, do you not see how im-
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 263 
 
 possible it is that Mr. Draper can sit in a Rocking- 
 ham Cabinet?" 
 
 "But it is the King's desire," said Lord Peveril 
 in an agitated voice. "The fate of the country 
 depends upon Mr. Draper's loyal co-operation. " 
 
 "Yes, I know." 
 
 "It is a terrible test," said the old man, "but if 
 the man is a true patriot I think we may still hope. " 
 
 "Yes, but is it not asking too much of any man?" 
 
 " I have lived in strange times, " said Lord Peveril. 
 "I have seen strange things happen, I have mixed 
 freely with all sorts of people, but the more I see and 
 the more I know, the greater is my faith in human 
 nature. If this man is all that you believe him to 
 be, he will not fail his country in the supreme hour." 
 
 The words were those of a seer. Evelyn, who had 
 a deep reverence for the speaker, was strangely 
 moved by them. Moreover, her courage rose. 
 Somehow she felt sustained in the most difficult and 
 hazardous course she was determined to follow. 
 She was daring all. A much maligned, a much 
 misunderstood woman, she had made up her mind 
 that the true facts of the case should be known. 
 There should be neither pretext nor excuse for un- 
 sympathetic or hostile action. 
 
 Lord Peveril believed her. That was clear gain. 
 To have him learn the truth meant much. But 
 others must learn it too.
 
 VII 
 
 AS Lady Aline was lighting her bedroom candle 
 in the hall, she was surprised by a voice at 
 her side. 
 
 "Let us talk for a few minutes. May I come 
 to your room?" 
 
 With a slight flush of annoyance she turned to 
 discover Evelyn Rockingham at her elbow. Open 
 rudeness was against her code, but her instinct was 
 to escape with her candle as speedily as she could, 
 and entirely to ignore the presence of her rival. 
 
 It is not easy, however, to ignore the Evelyn 
 Rockinghams of the world. 
 
 "Let us talk, my dear child," she said with a 
 gentle insistence. "Your room will be best. We 
 can have privacy there." 
 
 Without further preface, and with perfect self- 
 possession, she accompanied the younger woman 
 to her room. Neither spoke as they passed up the 
 stairs. Evelyn was only too well aware of the 
 contemptuous hostility that was smouldering in the 
 other's heart. 
 
 They entered Aline's bedroom. Evelyn closed 
 
 264
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 265 
 
 the door. Then she seized two stone-cold hands 
 in her own vital grasp. 
 
 "My dear child," she said, "I have come down 
 here to-night with a particular purpose in view. 
 You are most necessary to the fulfilment of that 
 purpose. I insist that you hear what I have to 
 say." 
 
 The contempt in the eyes of the younger woman 
 was almost cruel. 
 
 "I have no wish to hear anything you may have 
 to say to me," she said slowly, without vehemence. 
 "I have not the slightest wish that you should 
 speak to me." 
 
 "That I know well enough," said Evelyn. "It 
 would be surprising if you had, since you have 
 always judged me so mistakenly. I do not blame 
 you for that. Wiser people have been equally at 
 fault, and they have not had your excuse. " 
 
 The younger woman had grown deadly white. 
 The eyes, steady with the light of anger, shone cold 
 and clear. 
 
 "I cannot, I will not, talk to you," she said. 
 
 As she spoke she moved toward the door of the 
 bedroom for the purpose of opening it. With a swift, 
 sudden defiance the elder woman barred her way. 
 
 "Aline," she said, "you must listen, please, to 
 what I have to say. You are not wholly a fool. 
 Your mind has been poisoned. You have been made
 
 266 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 the tool of one who has not scrupled to exploit you 
 for his own ignoble ends. " 
 
 The deadly pale face of the younger woman 
 seemed suddenly to blaze with fury. Not a sound 
 escaped her lips, yet she had to bite them to repress 
 a cry of rage. 
 
 "I will not allow you to talk to me in this way," 
 she said. 
 
 "Aline," said the older woman, "you of all people 
 must be aware of the state of the country. One 
 man only can save it, and that man is your husband. 
 That you must realize. And if you are a woman 
 worthy of your country it behooves you to help him 
 and to help it in any way that may be possible in 
 such an hour as this. " 
 . Lady Aline was wholly unmoved by the appeal. 
 
 "I decline to discuss the matter," she said. "And 
 I must ask you to leave my room immediately." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham, however, held her ground. 
 
 "There are certain things I am going to say to 
 you, Aline," she said, "and you cannot choose but 
 hear them. I well know you to be the victim of an 
 insane jealousy. Jealousy of whom? I will tell 
 you. Jealousy of myself, Evelyn Rockingham. 
 No, leave the bell alone. I will not allow you to 
 touch it." She sprang forward as she spoke and 
 caught the slighter, more delicate woman by the 
 wrists. "Before I leave this room, my dear Aline,
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 267 
 
 it is my intention that you shall realize the truth. 
 Evelyn Rockingham is not the base intrigante you 
 take her to be. Your husband and I have worked 
 side by side in a great national crisis. We are still 
 working side by side in the hope of saving that 
 precious thing to which we are devoted. But that 
 is the beginning and the end of our intercourse. 
 Your suspicions are entirely unfounded, that I 
 swear before God." 
 
 The jealous wife was fully determined not to listen 
 to the woman whom she believed to have supplanted 
 her in her husband's affections. But her words in 
 their burning intensity and her own situation, 
 moreover held firmly as she was by the wrists 
 with a power that far surpassed her own physical 
 strength compelled her to do so. She rejected the 
 appeal, however, with a contempt that was almost 
 savage. 
 
 "You choose not to believe me, Aline," said 
 Evelyn Rockingham. "Very well. So much the 
 worse for us all. Nay, I don't care in the least 
 what you may think of me" this in answer to the 
 immeasurable scorn that seemed to transform the 
 eyes into those of Medusa. "You were always an 
 inferior woman. It is the irony of things that such 
 a man as James Draper should have made the tragic 
 mistake of marrying you. But I intend that you 
 shall realize the truth. I am an honest woman.
 
 268 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 You have all your husband's love, as much as you 
 had it ever. You are still his idol. He is still 
 devoted to you. I only hope that you can say you 
 are an honest woman also. " 
 
 The furious pride of the younger woman caused 
 her to become passive. 
 
 "Let go my hands, Evelyn," she said very quietly. 
 
 "Yes, when you have accepted the truth. I have 
 come here to-night that you should learn it. Your 
 husband comes down here to-morrow. It is of vital 
 importance that once for all you should put away 
 these unworthy suspicions which are ruining his life, 
 which are ruining your own, and, moreover, are 
 imperilling the safety of the country. Give me some 
 assurance, Aline, that you accept the statement 
 I have made." 
 
 Lady Aline maintained a stubborn silence. 
 
 "As God is my witness, I have spoken the truth," 
 said Evelyn Rockingham. "I cannot say more. 
 If you choose not to believe me you will have to pay 
 a heavy price for your wickedness and your folly. 
 Perhaps we shall all have to pay it England more 
 than anybody. But your husband comes down here 
 to-morrow, and I ask you then to remember what 
 I now swear before God. " 
 
 "Leave my room," said the younger woman. 
 
 "Please give me some assurance that you accept 
 my statement, and that you will act upon it. "
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 269 
 
 "The matter is not one that we can discuss." 
 
 "For heaven's sake, don't treat the matter in a. 
 merely conventional spirit. Surely we have gone 
 beyond that. There is so much at stake. Aline,, 
 on my knees I implore you to believe me and act 
 if it is still possible for you to act in accordance 
 with your knowledge." 
 
 There was something in the sudden humility of 
 the appeal that affected the younger woman. Only 
 a heart of stone could have been proof against it. 
 In spite of herself so complete a self-abasement 
 touched the heart of Aline. 
 
 "Will you not believe me?" 
 
 There was a moment of silence. 
 
 " I implore you to believe me. For your husband's 
 sake and for your own and for your country's, I 
 implore you to believe me. " 
 
 The younger woman was no longer proof against 
 emotion. She averted her face, but already a subtle 
 change had been wrought in it. Loath as she was to 
 admit the truth, it was yet impossible to remain 
 impervious to such an appeal. She was a woman 
 convinced against her will, but by sheer force and 
 sincerity Evelyn Rockingham seemed almost to have 
 conquered.
 
 MR. DRAPER and Mr. Grundy were expected 
 to join the Cloudesley house-party in the 
 course of Sunday morning. Speculation ran high 
 among the guests. All were members of the caste 
 to whom Draper beyond all men was intensely 
 antipathetic. The man's whole career was an 
 affront to those nurtured in the faith of laissez faire. 
 
 Neither Harrow nor Eton nor the older universities 
 had touched this unpolished gem with their chasten- 
 ing hands. Nor had they touched his fathers before 
 him. But in spite of the severe handicap nature 
 had imposed upon him or because of it, said the 
 cynical the "Haberdasher" was proving himself 
 in the supreme hour to be great in the hearts of 
 the people. 
 
 It was idle for any body of politicians to burke 
 the fact that James Draper could not be dispensed 
 with. He had taken such a hold upon the imagina- 
 tion of the masses that it now appeared that he alone 
 could right the crazy ship of state. Beyond every- 
 thing else this was due to a strong and inspiring 
 personality which stood foursquare to the winds of 
 
 270
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 271 
 
 party. But then again the man's integrity had told 
 heavily upon those of his countrymen who set a high 
 value upon personal character. 
 
 In the beginning his wonderful rise from a small 
 tradesman's counter in a provincial town had been 
 due to the fact that he had had the wit and also the 
 luck to be the first to bring home to the masses that 
 somebody had not been playing quite fair for several 
 hundreds of years. His famous or infamous? 
 land bill had been designed to put the matter in order. 
 The success of that measure had imbued his early 
 followers with the lust of triumph; they determined 
 by the advantage they had gained to push up to 
 the hilt. The Conciliation Bill had been the out- 
 come of their valour. But then, to their indignant 
 surprise, the man's deep-rooted sense of fair play 
 asserted itself, and he cried, "Halt, you are going too 
 fast!" 
 
 The stern admonition had shattered to pieces the 
 Coalition Government of which he was a member. 
 His friends were shocked and disconcerted; his 
 enemies shouted with glee. Here at last was the 
 long-looked-for opportunity of those whom he had 
 shorn of their ancient privileges. He thinks he is 
 strong enough to do without us now, said his friends; 
 Mr. Facing-both-ways, said his enemies. Only a 
 very small and deeply perceptive minority came 
 near to the truth.
 
 272 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Had it been possible at this point for two such 
 deadly foes as the Right and the Left to co-operate 
 there might have been a speedy end of James Draper. 
 But it was asking a little too much of human nature, 
 and perhaps this he knew. He had committed an 
 almost tragic indiscretion in the matter of his 
 marriage, but even this was not able wholly to undo 
 him. Nevertheless, it had exposed him to the 
 machinations of a powerful and unscrupulous social 
 clique which grasped eagerly at the chance of bring- 
 ing off a great political coup. 
 
 Among the guests assembled at Cloudesley was 
 more than one of those who had aided and abetted 
 Rockingham in his well-laid scheme to put this dan- 
 gerous foe forever out of public life. The attempt 
 was made with a sure and subtle knowledge of the 
 Pharisaical British nature. For nearly three weeks 
 the issue had hung in the balance, during which 
 time the whole industrial life of the country had 
 been brought to the verge of chaos. A single false 
 step on the part of him against whom the plot 
 was laid would have been fatal; but the man's 
 remarkable calibre had declared itself in this crisis. 
 It was now felt even at Cloudesley, the headquarters 
 of the conspirators, that unless at the eleventh hour 
 the unforeseen occurred, James Draper was bound 
 "to come out on top. " 
 
 Was it possible that even now the unforeseen was
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 273 
 
 about to happen? Sinister rumours were rife from 
 an early hour that Sunday morning. It was known 
 by then that a further urgent and lengthy com- 
 munication from the King had been received by the 
 master of the house. The nature of it had not been 
 disclosed, but soon after breakfast there was a con- 
 ference held in the library between the Prime 
 Minister-elect, Evan Mauleverer, Loring, and Lord 
 Peveril. 
 
 During the course of its progress less august 
 persons gathered in little groups in odd corners of 
 the house. A strange gravity seemed to envelop the 
 place. In the very atmosphere of the old house 
 there was a sense of something impending. Precisely 
 what it was none could tell. On the face of things 
 it would appear that Rockingham had been able to 
 form a Government acceptable to King and People 
 alike. Its heterogeneous elements had consented 
 apparently to work together for the common weal, 
 in order that the country might not bleed to death, 
 yet always providing that the unforeseen did not 
 occur at the eleventh hour. 
 
 Had the negotiations broken down? Anxious 
 politicians, unable to possess their souls in patience 
 for a little while longer, eagerly canvassed the 
 question with one who was likely to have the very 
 latest information. 
 
 Mr. Ansell in particular was importunate.
 
 274 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "You must tell me, Duchess," he said, "just 
 what you think. Are we to have the honour of 
 lunching with the 'Haberdasher,' or are we not?" 
 
 "I can only counsel you, Mr. Ansell," said 
 Evelyn Rockingham with a rather elaborate air, 
 "in the phrase of a great statesman of the past: you 
 must 'wait and see." 
 
 "Well, I'm sure you would know, if anybody does," 
 said the member for South East Leeds, not very 
 tactfully. 
 
 "Nobody does know, except Mr. Draper himself. 
 Personally, I am inclined to believe we are to have 
 the honour of lunching with him. Last evening it 
 was undoubtedly his intention to come down here 
 in the course of to-day. " 
 
 "Plenty of time to change his mind since then, 
 though." 
 
 "Yes, but why should he? He is not a man much 
 given to changing his mind. " 
 
 "I don't mean without adequate reason, of course. 
 But somehow one feels that something may have 
 suddenly gone wrong." 
 
 "In the country, do you mean?" 
 
 "No, I don't mean in the country. Things can't 
 go much more crooked there, unless London is 
 already sacked and burned, and that would surprise 
 nobody. But somehow I've taken the notion that 
 Mr. D. may not be quite playing the game. "
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 275 
 
 " I am afraid I don't understand you, Mr. Ansell." 
 
 "Well, he may, don't you know, have found it 
 impossible to play straight, as a man of his class 
 generally does when he's really put to it. " 
 
 "In what way is it open to him not to play 
 straight?" 
 
 "Well, he may have tried, don't you know, in 
 a manner of speaking, to overreach the King. Any- 
 how, that's Loring's opinion, and he was in London 
 up till five o'clock last evening." 
 
 "In what way, Mr. Ansell, would it be possible 
 for Mr. Draper to overreach the King?" There was 
 a rather amused ring in the voice of the questioner, 
 which was wholly lost upon the earnest patriot, 
 whose thoughts were centred solely upon the welfare 
 of his country. 
 
 "Well, you know," said the Yorkshireman, 
 laying a mystical finger on the centre of his forehead, 
 "he suffers from that." 
 
 "That?" queried Evelyn. 
 
 "Megalomania. He imagines he's a Cromwell. 
 And if a man imagines he's a Cromwell he is capable 
 de tout. " 
 
 "In other words, Mr. Ansell," said Evelyn 
 Rockingham blandly, "you are prepared to impeach 
 his loyalty to the Throne?" 
 
 "Yes, by jove! If that man sees his chance he'll 
 stick at nothing. Everything is at sixes and sevens :
 
 276 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 Evan says Navy and Army and Police are out for 
 higher pay, like the rest of 'em; a certain person 
 this is strictly between ourselves, mind! is as weak 
 as water in a crisis; this fellow has got the ear of 
 the masses as no man has ever had it before in this 
 country; and if he's the man we all take him to be he 
 is not going to hold the candle to Rockingham, whom 
 he hates like poison." 
 
 In spite of her amused air, the wife of Rockingham 
 looked rather unhappy. The man who spoke so 
 naively was himself a power in the land. Extremely 
 rich, and a large employer of labour, he was endowed 
 with the North countryman's power of seeing the 
 thing immediately in front of his nose without 
 being embarrassed by any particular mental sub- 
 tlety. It was certain that when he expressed such 
 a frank opinion it was one that was very widely 
 held. 
 
 "I can only say, Mr. Ansell," said Evelyn at last, 
 "that I don't agree with you in the least. There 
 can be no question that Mr. Draper is a single- 
 hearted man, and a pure-minded politician. He is 
 much too highly developed to seek personal advance- 
 ment at the expense of anybody particularly at 
 the expense of his country. " 
 
 Mr. Ansell shook his head. There was the smile 
 of the sceptic upon his not specially prepossessing 
 features.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 277 
 
 "Ha, you idealists!" he said. "You are one of 
 the greatest dangers this old world has to face. " 
 
 "Yes, I know. " Her immense power of sympathy 
 enabled her to put herself in the place of a man 
 from whom she differed fundamentally, and to 
 appraise his merits without despising him too much. 
 "Yes, I quite see that. And he's an idealist, too, 
 and that is why you are all so shamefully afraid 
 of him." 
 
 "We are only afraid of him because he makes 
 us all so damned uncomfortable," said Mr. Ansell, 
 with an accession of luminous candour. 
 
 "As all idealists do, I suppose?" 
 
 "Yes, you are quite right there. That's a power 
 you all have in common. And what, pray, have 
 you done with your idealism? Raised up the 
 Under-dog. Got him to take a pride in himself. 
 Got him to wear a collar, and to brush his hair. 
 Widened his horizon. Taught him how to read 
 newspapers, and how to write 'em. Increased his 
 scale of living. Made him very acute in minding 
 other people's business. And what's the result of 
 it all? Instead of an unwashed, under-paid, under- 
 fed, but moderately contented cur, you get a sleek, 
 well-fed, thoroughly discontented mongrel, who is 
 determined at all hazards to get on top. Idealists 
 like Draper have not made the world a whit better 
 for anybody, and they've made it a much worse place
 
 278 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 for everybody to live in. I may go so far as to admit 
 that the man is sincere, according to his lights, but it 
 would have been far better for his country had he 
 never been born. Let well alone was my father's 
 motto, and the more I see of things the more I'm 
 convinced it takes a great deal of beating. That's my 
 opinion, Duchess, and I make so bold as to present 
 you with it, free, gratis, and for nothing." 
 
 The outspoken Yorkshireman turned away with 
 a satisfied laugh. He was conscious that his indict- 
 ment of a dangerous heresy admitted of no defence 
 worthy of a moment's consideration from a judicial 
 mind.
 
 IX 
 
 A LITTLE after midday the conference in the 
 library came to an end. Four grave and 
 reverend councillors emerged from their seclusion 
 with an air sufficiently portentous to increase the 
 curiosity of those who were burning to know the 
 latest turn in the game. Were the negotiations on 
 the point of collapse, even now that Rockingham had 
 formed his Government? Could it be that, after all, 
 Draper had declined to come in? 
 
 About a quarter to one o'clock these doubts 
 received a rather startling confirmation. Then it 
 was that Mr. Grundy arrived alone. His colleague, 
 it appeared, had come down too, but he chose to 
 remain at the inn in the village rather than invade 
 the precincts of Cloudesley. And to the surprise 
 of all, he had sent a formal request that Rockingham, 
 Evan Mauleverer, and Loring should attend him 
 at the Coach and Horses any time during the after- 
 noon that might be convenient to them. 
 
 It was hard to understand such a line of conduct. 
 Why take the trouble to come down at all if one was 
 not going to have the grace to enter the house of the 
 
 279
 
 280 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 enemy? Certainly such a scruple augured ill for the 
 success of a Rockingham ministry. If the most 
 important figure in it was able to display such dis- 
 courtesy the least censorious of his critics felt it 
 amounted to that toward the accredited leader 
 and his friends, the entire scheme was doomed to 
 collapse. 
 
 Luncheon was not altogether a comfortable meal. 
 But it passed more agreeably than might have been 
 the case had Mr. Grundy been less adroit. His 
 personal popularity was not confined to his own 
 political followers. His moderate and rather cau- 
 tious views, tempered by the patience and sagacity 
 of a true statesman, commended themselves equally 
 to the members of the three parties. 
 
 The perfect plainness of speech and manner, the 
 directness, the complete absence of "pose," and 
 above all the genuine kindliness of the fallen leader 
 of the Coalition had never stood him or his cause 
 in better stead than at this moment. He was too 
 shrewd not to realize that he was in a dangerously 
 heated atmosphere. None saw more clearly than 
 he that the 'rather impolite reluctance of Draper to 
 enter that house and to sit at that board had strained 
 these all-too-recent negotiations to the breaking- 
 point. 
 
 Those among whom Mr. Grundy sat were beyond 
 all things men of the world, but they found it almost
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 281 
 
 impossible to conceal their chagrin. Loring himself, 
 the squire and sportsman, trying his level best to 
 fulfil a role for which nature had never designed him, 
 was obviously piqued. He found it as much as he 
 could do to be civil to the leader of the Centre. Such 
 an attitude was of course unworthy of a man like 
 Loring, but he seemed to feel the affront that was 
 offered as a personal thing. Evan Mauleverer took 
 it with far more philosophy. His mind was deeper, 
 his self-command, his acquaintance with affairs 
 much greater. He sat opposite Grundy, and while 
 he said very little, his slow, formidable, cynical smile 
 was trained full upon him. 
 
 Rockingham, on the other hand, seemed quite 
 unaffected by the absence of Draper. He was much 
 too grand seigneur to wear his heart upon his sleeve. 
 Rockingham House might be burning, together with 
 the rest of the metropolis, but the ground landlord 
 of one fifth of Mayfair chatted equably throughout 
 the meal to his feminine neighbours, one of whom 
 was Lady Aline and the other his hostess, with a 
 detachment of mind that was a little enigmatical as 
 well as a little tragic. 
 
 As soon as the women had risen from the table 
 Loring ordered his butler to send coffee and cigars 
 to the library, and he invited Rockingham, Maul- 
 everer, and Grundy to retire to that seclusion in 
 order "that they might have a little talk." To
 
 282 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 this suggestion they assented readily, and in the 
 course of half an hour or so Evan Mauleverer 
 returned in search of the host, whom he found in the 
 depths of a cosy armchair in the hall. 
 
 "We want your help, my dear fellow," said the 
 leader of the Right, with his slow and formidable 
 smile. "Come and help us." 
 
 "To do what?" growled Loring. 
 
 "To make up our minds. If Mahomet won't 
 come to the Mountain, is it meet for the Mountain 
 to go to Mahomet?" 
 
 "I'd see him damned first," said Loring, in 
 characteristic phrase. 
 
 "Exactly my opinion." The formidable smile 
 of the famous reactionary seemed to grow more 
 dangerous. " But for some occult reason that doesn't 
 seem altogether to meet the views of Robert. " 
 
 "Why not?" said the host. "We've had more 
 than enough of Draper's nonsense as it is. And 
 to my mind this about puts the cap on." 
 
 "Exactly my view. But Robert doesn't quite 
 see the thing like that. What is in his mind I can't 
 fathom. For some inexplicable reason he seems 
 to lean to the side of Grundy, and Grundy, of course, 
 is all in favour of paying a visit to the Coach and 
 Horses at four o'clock. " 
 
 The host rose stubbornly and rather rheumatically 
 from the depths of his armchair.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 283 
 
 "I am bound to say," he said, "that Robert 
 defeats me. If he's a wise man he'll keep clear. 
 Why should he, of all people, want to go near the 
 dirty dog. Mark my words, Evan, that swine has 
 come down here for no good purpose. He is out 
 for mischief." 
 
 Mr. Evan Mauleverer offered no comment. 
 But expressions so unparliamentary seemed in 
 nowise to offend his fastidious soul. My lord was 
 accustomed to call a spade a spade; moreover, he 
 seemed to have touched a responsive chord in the 
 bosom of the leader of the Right. 
 
 "You are just the man to talk to Robert," he said, 
 linking a fraternal arm through that of his host.
 
 X 
 
 ARM in arm they entered the library. They 
 found Rockingham and Grundy smoking 
 their cigars in a silence that was a little tense. 
 
 Evan Mauleverer closed the door softly. 
 
 "Loring thinks exactly as I do," he said. 
 
 "Of course he does," said Rockingham, drawing 
 imperturbably at his cigar. "And you are both 
 absolutely right absolutely right. " The Prime 
 Minister-elect repeated the phrase almost as if he 
 was in the process of weighing it carefully "as 
 far as you go both absolutely right as far as you 
 
 go." 
 
 "You think we don't go far enough?" said Loring, 
 rather sharply. 
 
 "Perhaps perhaps," mused the Prime Minister- 
 elect. 
 
 "You've all gone a great deal too far already, 
 that's my opinion," was Loring's rejoinder. "And 
 I refer to you, Mr. Grundy, as much as anybody. 
 It's only my opinion, mind, but there it is if you 
 want it." 
 
 Mr. Grundy's face was tinged with sly amusement. 
 
 284
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 285 
 
 None understood better than he the man with whom 
 he had to deal. 
 
 "Lord Loring," he said in his suave, almost 
 paternal manner, "I know you well enough to be 
 aware that no man is more deeply attached to the 
 country. " 
 
 "I take no credit for that," said the forthright 
 Briton. 
 
 "Quite so. But what I would venture to point 
 out to you is that all four of us are passionately 
 attached to the country. We may be at variance 
 as to what is the immediate course to pursue, but 
 the fact that we are at one on the main issue ought, 
 I think, to guide us in this minor matter. Now, 
 the point is this : The Duke and I are agreed that it 
 is expedient to accede to Mr. Draper's request 
 his polite request that we should pay him a visit 
 at the inn in the village some time this afternoon. 
 You and Mauleverer, I gather, are opposed to that 
 
 course. 
 u 
 
 That is so, " said the leader of the Right. " In my 
 view it is a request he is not in a position to prefer. " 
 "I am afraid, my dear Mauleverer, I cannot 
 agree with you," said the leader of the Centre, 
 with all the urbanity of which he was capable. 
 "You must be aware that an immense quantity 
 of water has flowed under London Bridge during 
 the past forty-eight hours. "
 
 286 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "So I am informed," said the leader of the Right 
 in his dryest manner. 
 
 "You mean," Loring interposed hotly, "that 
 the King has allowed this traitor to overreach 
 him." 
 
 "Well, no, not that exactly," said the leader of 
 the Centre, in the soothing accents he might have 
 used to a child. "And with all respect, my dear 
 Lord Loring, that statement does not envisage 
 the true facts of the situation that is to say, as 
 the facts of the situation present themselves to the 
 Duke and myself." 
 
 The almost caressing note of urbanity was lost 
 upon all save Rockingham, who smiled slightly. 
 
 "I'm a plain man," growled Loring, "and that's 
 how it strikes me, anyhow, and that's what I told 
 the King." 
 
 "I am aware you did," said the leader of the 
 Centre. "But I am not aware that the King shares 
 your opinion." 
 
 "You don't expect a man to admit he's been done 
 in the eye, do you?" snapped my lord. 
 
 "And I think I am entitled to say," quietly 
 countered the leader of the Centre, "that the Duke 
 here doesn't altogether share that opinion either." 
 
 Loring turned to face Rockingham with explosive 
 eyes. 
 
 "I can't understand what you do think, Robert,"
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 287 
 
 he said petulantly; "upon my word, I can't. I tell 
 you plainly this man is a traitor. " 
 
 "One is not yet convinced that he is," said 
 Rockingham, whose rather fatigued air seemed in 
 the circumstances deliciously casual. "I think 
 that is what we have to find out. " 
 
 "And you think, my dear fellow," said Evan 
 Mauleverer, "that if we respond to his kind invita- 
 tion to take tea with him at the Coach and Horses 
 this afternoon at four o'clock, we may be able to set 
 at rest our doubts upon the subject." 
 
 "I confess it may not be unlikely." 
 
 "I am sorry to be unable to follow your reasoning," 
 said the leader of the Right. " It seems uncommonly 
 like responding to a direct invitation to walk into 
 the spider's parlour." 
 
 "Assuming that it is, what harm can the spider 
 do us?" 
 
 "He might swallow us piecemeal." 
 
 "I don't quite understand." 
 
 "Well, I will not be more explicit at the moment, " 
 said the leader of the Right, "but my view is that it 
 will be the height of impolicy. There is no adequate 
 reason why he should not come here to discuss the 
 situation. And if there is an adequate reason the 
 situation no longer admits of discussion." 
 
 The Duke and Mr. Grundy nodded an affirmative. 
 
 "Yes, that is the crux of the whole matter,"
 
 288 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 said the latter, after waiting courteously but in vain 
 for Rockingham himself to frame an answer. "The 
 question now to be decided is, has or has not the 
 matter passed beyond the phase of discussion?" 
 
 "Exactly," said Loring. 
 
 "Well," said the leader of the Centre, "I can 
 only have recourse to the King's explicit request, 
 made this morning at ten o'clock, that Draper 
 should confer with us four at the earliest moment, 
 and to acquaint him with the result of our delibera- 
 tions not later than to-morrow at noon. " 
 
 "Was this request made personally to Draper?" 
 inquired the leader of the Right with a light of 
 menace in his eyes. 
 
 "Undoubtedly." 
 
 "And what was Draper's reply?" 
 
 "He promised to do so on one condition." 
 
 "Condition! Aha! makes conditions, does he?" 
 The light in the eye of Mauleverer seemed to grow 
 more sinister. "What, pray, was the condition?" 
 
 "That he the King would give his personal 
 assurance that martial law should in no circum- 
 stances be proclaimed in London before Monday 
 midnight. " 
 
 "My God!" groaned Loring, "was he insane 
 enough to give it?" 
 
 "Yes," said the leader of the Centre in a voice so 
 passive that nothing could have been deduced from it.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 289 
 
 "Just what we might have expected," gasped 
 Loring. "Upon my soul, I believe he's undone us. " 
 
 "It may be so, Lord Loring," said the leader of 
 the Centre; "on the other hand, it may not be so. 
 I, at least, am not prepared to prophesy. But that 
 was the condition laid down, and upon due reflection 
 the King saw his way to accept it. " 
 
 "Was there no other condition?" asked the 
 leader of the Right." 
 
 "None." 
 
 "Absolutely none?" 
 
 "No other condition was imposed." 
 
 "Then it appears to amount to this," said the 
 leader of the Right. "Draper is pledged to confer 
 with us, and it is entirely a question of his personal 
 convenience whether the meeting takes place in 
 this house or at the inn in the village." 
 
 "Quite so," said the leader of the Centre im- 
 passively. 
 
 "You mean to say," said Loring, "that the man 
 has the impertinence to impose the place of meeting 
 upon us when he has really no choice in the matter?" 
 
 "That would appear to be a not inaccurate state- 
 ment of the facts," said the leader of the Centre 
 dryly. 
 
 "But he's in a cleft stick," said Loring. "He's 
 bound to come here whether he wants to come 
 here or not."
 
 290 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I agree," said the leader of the Centre. "But 
 then the question of expediency arises. It cannot 
 hurt us to accede to his request, but conceivably 
 it might hurt him to accede to ours." 
 
 "I don't understand," said Loring bluntly. 
 "Why shouldn't the man be made to come to this 
 house?" 
 
 "Do you press for the reason, Lord Loring?" 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 "His wife is a guest in this house, and I think I be- 
 tray no secret if I say they are no longer on terms. " 
 
 "A totally inadequate reason. Why can't he 
 behave like a man of the world?" 
 
 "I presume to offer no opinion upon that," said 
 the leader of the Centre with an air of grave courtli- 
 ness. "But I do feel very strongly that we should 
 keep ever before us that we have to deal with a 
 rather abnormal personality." 
 
 "Swollen head, eh? All the more reason we 
 should not give in to it. But one would have 
 thought he knew enough of things by this time to 
 behave like a man of the world. " 
 
 "Your world or his, Lord Loring?" inquired the 
 leader of the Centre in debonair accents. 
 
 "There is only one world," said Loring. 
 
 The leader of the Centre deferred in silence to 
 this dictum, but once again there was a stealthy 
 light in the sagacious eyes.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 291 
 
 "Loring means there is only one world inhabited 
 by educated people," said the leader of the Right 
 with his rather fatigued drawl. 
 
 "Thank you, my dear Mauleverer," said the 
 leader of the Centre. "I think we all strive to 
 appreciate that. " 
 
 Rockingham, who in all circumstances was prone 
 to indulge the comic sense, turned aside to smile. 
 
 "Well, I see no reason at all why we should yield 
 to him," said Loring, summoning a superb air of 
 finality. "I don't think we need care particularly 
 for his fine feelings. He has never cared for ours. 
 We are here if he wants us, and are ready to receive 
 him. It is really a matter of indifference to us 
 whether we meet him or not. " 
 
 "But it is not a matter of indifference to the 
 country," said the leader of the Centre. 
 
 There was a pause. It was broken by Rockingham. 
 
 "Do we want him here particularly?" he said in 
 his casual voice. 
 
 "You mean, can he be trusted to behave himself 
 if he comes?" said Loring. "Personally, I take 
 leave to doubt it." 
 
 "I too," said the Prime Minister-elect. 
 
 "I too," said the leader of the Right. 
 
 "One is inclined to think, "said the Prime Minister- 
 elect, "that he has shown a certain self-knowledge 
 in not trusting himself within these precincts."
 
 292 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Would you say that was his reason?" Loring 
 inquired. 
 
 "It is not improbable, I think. He is bound to 
 meet us in any case, but he may feel he has not got 
 himself sufficiently in hand to meet us here. What 
 is your view, Mr. Grundy?" 
 
 The Prime Minister-elect turned to the leader of 
 the Centre with a rather elaborate if slightly ironical 
 gesture, as of one seeking the light. 
 
 The leader of the Centre was not unequal to 
 the occasion. 
 
 "I have no claim to be considered a psychological 
 expert," he said in his dryest voice, "but if you press 
 the point I am constrained to admit that the hy- 
 pothesis may not be inconceivable. " 
 
 "At all events," said the Prime Minister-elect, 
 "I am convinced that nothing will be lost if our 
 conference takes place at the village inn. " 
 
 Like many men of limited mentality, Loring was 
 extremely tenacious. But Rockingham's opinion 
 carried weight. And, after all, it was to Rocking- 
 ham that the affair mattered most. If he felt that 
 the concession of this rather immaterial point did not 
 in any way jeopardize his own strategical position 
 there was no particular reason for his friends to be 
 unduly sensitive. 
 
 "Well, Robert, you are going to be Prime Min- 
 ister," said Loring with the best grace he could
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 293 
 
 muster, "and I suppose it is right for your opinion 
 to be paramount." 
 
 "Yes, I think it is," said Rockingham, with 
 characteristic coolness. 
 
 "Well, I place myself in your hands," said Loring, 
 who, like most of his kind, knew how and when to 
 defer to authority. 
 
 "Thank you, Loring," said the Prime Minister- 
 elect. "I am sure you will not regret your action. 
 And, after all, the point is quite immaterial. " 
 
 Evan Mauleverer found himself to be the sole 
 representative of the minority. Therefore he ex- 
 pressed the stoicism upon which he was wont to 
 pride himself by acquiescing gracefully in a course of 
 action of which he strongly disapproved.
 
 XI 
 
 AS THE afternoon was fine, and the Coach and 
 Horses was within sight of the lodge gates of 
 Cloudesley, Rockingham, Grundy, Mauleverer, and 
 Loring set out on foot from the house a few minutes 
 before four o'clock. There was still a fair amount 
 of light, and Rockingham, his arm entwined con- 
 fidentially within that of the leader of the Centre, led 
 the way along the famous beech avenue to the park 
 gates. At an interval of some fifty yards, Loring and 
 Mauleverer followed not over-graciously in their wake. 
 Both the leader of the Right and his host were 
 puzzled not a little by the demeanour of Rocking- 
 ham. Always an enigma, even to his most intimate 
 friends, trusted the least by those who knew him the 
 best, his newly displayed respect for the opinion and 
 personality of Grundy nonplussed them completely. 
 An aristocrat of aristocrats, if such a phrase has a 
 meaning, a man fastidious in all things, except in the 
 matter of the Seventh Commandment, that such a 
 man should be ready to dance to the piping of 
 Solomon Grundy, was one of those contradictions 
 for which they were at a loss to account. 
 
 294
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 295 
 
 "Robert is getting an enormous patriot these 
 days, " said Evan Mauleverer with one of his cynical 
 chuckles. "Or is he meditating another of his little 
 coups, I wonder?" 
 
 "I hope he won't let Draper get on top, that's 
 all," said Loring sourly. 
 
 "Somehow I don't think he will do that. No 
 man yet has ever plumbed the depths of Robert's 
 resources. But I must say this thing has an ugly 
 look. It has been played up far too high. Some- 
 thing may very easily snap. Let us hope it won't 
 be Robert Rockingham." 
 
 "Pooh!" said Loring. "If it comes to that, he 
 is quite able to take care of himself. " 
 
 "I will tell you better in an hour's time, my dear 
 fellow," said Mr. Evan Mauleverer. 
 
 By now the party had arrived at the Coach and 
 Horses. Evidently they were expected. An over- 
 whelmingly obsequious innkeeper received them at 
 his threshold and ushered them up a flight of very 
 dark, very narrow, and decidedly unwholesome- 
 smelling stairs. 
 
 They were shown into a private sitting-room on the 
 first floor. Although there was still a certain amount 
 of daylight the lamp was already lit, and the curtains 
 drawn across the window. A cheerful fire was burn- 
 ing, and the room, though antiquated and meanly 
 furnished, was not without an aspect of comfort.
 
 296 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 In a rather dilapidated chair next the fireplace 
 reclined a very pale, sombre, gaunt-looking man. 
 Spectacles on nose, he was making a show of reading 
 the Planet newspaper. 
 
 Almost before his visitors had entered he had 
 risen to receive them. 
 
 "I am so much obliged to you all for the honour 
 you are doing me," he said. 
 
 "Not at all," said Rockingham, rather grimly. 
 
 He had been the first to enter the room. With 
 a nonchalant air that was yet not ungenial he 
 offered his hand. 
 
 "Please take a chair," said Draper. 
 
 He ignored the hand that was offered, yet with a 
 tact that made the omission appear unintentional. 
 
 "I am afraid none of these chairs are very com- 
 fortable," said Draper. "How do you do, Maul- 
 everer?" He bowed perhaps a shade elaborately 
 to the leader of the Right. "How do you do, 
 Lord Loring?" The bow was repeated. "I am 
 immensely obliged to you for coming here. " 
 
 "Not at all," said both of these in their deep 
 voices. 
 
 "These chairs are the best I can do for you, so you 
 must please make the best of them. May I offer 
 you some little refreshment after your walk? A cup 
 of tea, Duke? A whisky and soda?" 
 
 They were none of them in need of refreshment.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 297 
 
 It was some little time before they could accom- 
 modate themselves with chairs. But at last they 
 were able to do so. 
 
 "At the outset," said Draper, "may I be allowed 
 to ask if the situation is quite clear to you ? I should 
 like your formal assurance that such is the case." 
 
 The tone was even, friendly, and almost careless. 
 
 "The situation is reasonably clear, I think," said 
 Rockingham lightly. 
 
 "Still, perhaps you will forgive me if I rehearse it 
 a little before I say what I have to say?" 
 
 "Pray do so by all means," said Rockingham 
 with his courtier's air. 
 
 "This is the situation as it presents itself to me. 
 It may not be the situation as you yourselves 
 envisage it, but I can only accept responsibility for 
 the workings of my own mind: The country has 
 been without a Government for seventeen days. 
 Some form of constitutional Government is abso- 
 lutely indispensable to it. The King has invited 
 the Duke of Rockingham to form a Government, 
 but he has thought well to impose one vital condition. 
 That condition is that I, myself, should hold Cabinet 
 rank in any Government the Duke of Rockingham 
 may form. May I ask, is that an accurate state- 
 ment of the facts of the case?" 
 
 "A perfectly accurate statement of the facts of the 
 case, Mr. Draper," said Rockingham very quietly.
 
 298 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "At the risk," said Draper, "of going over ground 
 that may already be familiar to you, I may say I am 
 here at the King's request. I have been asked to 
 confer with the Duke of Rockingham and with 
 certain of his friends and colleagues. I have been 
 asked to afford any assistance that may lie within 
 my power in order to arrive at the decision, which 
 I understand is to be promulgated to-morrow at 
 noon, as to whether it will be competent for the 
 Duke of Rockingham to take office in compliance 
 with the premises laid down by the King. " 
 
 Rockingham acknowledged this resume by a 
 courteous inclination of the head. 
 
 "I have to thank you very much, Mr. Draper," 
 he said, "for stating the case so clearly and succinctly. 
 And let me say at once that your presence here and 
 any assistance, any advice you may feel competent 
 to give, cannot fail to be of the greatest advantage 
 to myself, to my colleagues, and to the country." 
 
 Mr. Draper bowed in his turn. 
 
 "Duke of Rockingham," he said, "I thank you 
 for speaking in such flattering terms of any services 
 it may be within my power to render. But before 
 proceeding one step further I deem it only right to 
 inform you and your friends that for my own part 
 I find it to be wholly impossible to accept office in 
 any administration of which you yourself are the 
 head or of any cabinet of which you a member. "
 
 XII 
 
 A PIN might have been heard to fall in the 
 room. There was a look of blank consterna- 
 tion in the faces of three of the emissaries. Diffi- 
 culties had been foreseen. But none had expected 
 a complete refusal in such bald and uncompromising 
 terms. 
 
 Rockingham, outwardly a stoic, as became his 
 attitude to life, did not relax a muscle. It was 
 impossible to read any kind of emotion into the 
 urbane half-smile with which he received Mr 
 Draper's announcement. But his three colleagues, 
 deeply solicitous for the country, were not able to 
 accept the blow with this slightly contemptuous 
 detachment. To them it meant total darkness and 
 eclipse. 
 
 The silence which followed was painful and 
 prolonged. The President of the Committee of 
 Public Safety, standing tense in every line, had 
 grown very pale. The deeply expressive, luminous 
 face was strangely drawn. The sunken eyes were 
 fixed upon Rockingham. None had realized until 
 this moment what implacable enemies they were. 
 
 299
 
 300 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 At last the silence was broken. It was broken 
 by the one among the five persons present whose 
 voice had the least authority, by the one indeed who 
 had the least right to be present in such an assembly. 
 
 "Why can't you?" said Loring in a rather queer, 
 wholly ineffectual voice that was strangely different 
 from his normal one. 
 
 A further silence ensued, and then Draper took 
 up the question. 
 
 "I will tell you why, Lord Loring." There was 
 a slow gathering together of the man's immense 
 hidden reserves of power. "I will tell you why, in 
 the fewest possible words. The Duke of Rocking- 
 ham is a contemptible blackguard. " 
 
 The three colleagues of , the Prime Minister-elect 
 sprang to their feet. The liveliest horror was in 
 their faces. Rockingham, on the contrary, kept 
 his chair and folded his arms with an air of the 
 completest indifference. The half-smile, now tinged 
 with a slight, almost imperceptible mockery, was 
 still upon his face. 
 
 "He has sought my ruin by every means in his 
 power." The accusation was made passionlessly. 
 "He has spread and fostered a base calumny, he 
 has perverted my wife and turned her against me. 
 I know he has always regarded me as an enemy of 
 the country. His hatred of me is sincere and 
 perhaps disinterested. That justice will I render
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 301 
 
 him. But I should be less than a man or I should 
 be more if I did not resent by all the means that are 
 open to me the machinations of one whom I abhor 
 from the depths of my soul." 
 
 Again came a painful silence. The colleagues of 
 Rockingham were too much astonished and too 
 much distressed to intervene. 
 
 "My lord duke" Draper moved a pace for- 
 ward to where Rockingham sat "you have done 
 me the greatest injury that one man can do another. 
 I should not have consented to meet you now, 
 except with one particular and especial purpose in 
 my mind. My lord duke, this is the purpose for 
 which I have met you." 
 
 As he spoke he struck Rockingham a light blow 
 on the cheek with the palm of his hand. 
 
 Grundy, Mauleverer, and Loring stood petrified. 
 Not one of them had dared to foresee the design 
 that was in the mind of Draper. They were power- 
 less to do anything. Indeed there was nothing 
 they could do. 
 
 "I formally challenge you," said James Draper. 
 
 Rockingham rose slowly to his feet. His great 
 height and impressive personality seemed for a 
 moment to overshadow his adversary. 
 
 "As you wish, Mr. Draper," he said almost 
 negligently. "I shall be most happy to give you 
 any satisfaction that lies within my power. "
 
 302 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "May I suggest to-morrow morning as soon as 
 there is light enough," said Draper curtly. "There 
 is a field here behind this inn which might suit our 
 convenience. " 
 
 "It will suit me perfectly," said Rockingham. 
 
 "You, of course, have the choice of weapons. " 
 
 "I am afraid I am not up in the rules," said 
 Rockingham with a well-considered air. "I was not 
 even aware that people fought duels nowadays. 
 But if you really feel I have done you a deep personal 
 injury," he added with a courtesy that was charming, 
 "I shall be most happy to oblige you in any way 
 that may be open to me. " 
 
 Mr. Draper bowed. 
 
 "I believe it to be usual in these somewhat 
 difficult circumstances " a subtle note of mockery 
 came into Rockingham's voice "to leave the 
 discussion of details to third and fourth parties. 
 Our seconds and I hope two among our three 
 friends here will do us the honour to repre- 
 sent us, unless Mr. Draper has other views 
 may perhaps be able to arrange the details of our 
 meeting to-night." 
 
 "The suggestion is excellent," said Draper with 
 a very matter-of-fact air. "I shall ask my friend 
 Grundy to represent me if he will have the great 
 kindness to do so. " 
 
 The leader of the Centre stood visibly perturbed.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 303 
 
 He directed a look of mingled consternation and 
 incredulity at his two companions that in other 
 circumstances would have been comic. 
 
 "Perhaps Lord Loring will be my man," said 
 Rockingham, whose manner was equally to the 
 point. "Will you be my man, Loring?" 
 
 "Hasn't this foolery gone far enough?" said 
 the master of Cloudesley, finding his tongue at 
 last. 
 
 "Lord Loring " the voice of Draper had taken 
 a curious note "I can only say that as there is a 
 God in heaven it is my clear and fixed intention to 
 meet the Duke of Rockingham." 
 
 The tone no less than the words seemed to strike 
 a chill to the heart. 
 
 "It is madness, it is worse than madness," said 
 Loring. 
 
 "You may be right, Lord Loring," said Draper 
 rather forlornly, "but the affair is out of my hands. 
 A Higher Power has intervened. " 
 
 "But the country, man, the country!" cried Lor- 
 ing aghast. 
 
 "Yes," said Draper in a falling voice, "I know, 
 I know. But, as I say, this thing is out of my 
 hands." 
 
 "But surely, man," said Loring, "you must realize 
 that if anything happens to you or to Rockingham 
 many thousands of lives may be sacrificed. It
 
 304 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 is the most colossal piece of egotism I have ever 
 heard." 
 
 Draper was silent. It was noticed that the sweat 
 had begun to pour down his face. 
 
 "Lord Loring," he said in a voice that almost 
 failed him, "this matter is out of my hands. I can 
 say no more than that. "
 
 XIII 
 
 ROCKINGHAM and his three companions filed 
 very slowly and in a gingerly manner down the 
 dark stairs of the inn. It was with a sense of 
 profound relief that they found themselves at last 
 in the open air. It now was quite dark. A moon- 
 less February night was come. There was a light 
 fall of rain in the air. 
 
 The four men walked abreast. Not a word was 
 spoken by one of them until they had passed through 
 the gates of the porter's lodge and halfway up the 
 long avenue to the house which yawned before them 
 like a crypt. 
 
 At last the voice of Loring was heard. It sounded 
 ghostly and hollow. 
 
 "I have always thought him a bit cracked," he 
 said. 
 
 None of the others answered him. In a silence 
 which seemed the deeper for having been disturbed, 
 they walked on. There was only the muffled, 
 rhythmical sound of their feet falling upon the 
 gravel and the gentle patter of the rain upon the 
 canopy of leaves overhead. 
 
 305
 
 306 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 They came to the house and entered, still without 
 speaking. Divested of their overcoats they seemed 
 to move automatically, instinctively, in the direction 
 of the library. Loring opened the door and held it 
 for the others to enter. The moment they had done 
 so, he entered too and closed the door after him. 
 
 They formed a little group upon the hearthrug 
 before the fire. Still no word passed, but in the 
 faces of them all, in that of Rockingham no less than 
 that of the others, was a look of utter consternation. 
 
 Finally it was Evan Mauleverer who spoke. 
 
 "Well? "he said. 
 
 That monosyllable seemed to embody the sense 
 of impotence that was common to them all. 
 
 "Well, what's to be done?" said Evan Mauleverer. 
 
 "Things must take their course, I think," said 
 Rockingham quietly. "After all, the proposal is 
 not unhonourable. " 
 
 "My dear Robert," said Evan Mauleverer, "I 
 feel very strongly that none of us can be a party to 
 this amazing proposition." 
 
 "Why not, my dear fellow?" 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Yes, my dear fellow, I repeat why not? As 
 I say, to my mind the proposal is quite an honourable 
 one, and in the circumstances even a legitimate one." 
 
 "Honourable! Legitimate! Are you going to 
 admit that it is justified?"
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 307 
 
 " Certainly," said Rockingham coolly. "No man 
 ever tried harder to ruin another than I tried to ruin 
 that fellow. You all know that. And I consider 
 the state of the country to be my justification. 
 Unfortunately I do not appear to have been able 
 to do it, and that is my only regret. " 
 
 This cynical candour seemed to intensify the 
 strain. 
 
 "The whole house of cards is on the ground, at any 
 rate," said Evan Mauleverer. 
 
 "Not a doubt of it." 
 
 "Well, my dear Robert, what is the next turn in 
 the game to be?" 
 
 "I may be better able to tell you at this time 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Thereupon Rockingham sauntered out of the room. 
 
 Left to themselves, the three others, so diverse 
 in their natures yet fused into a kind of fraternity 
 by the similarity of their outlook upon the world, 
 made each his confession of impotence. 
 
 "Well, what's to be done?" asked Evan Maul- 
 everer, repeating his futile question. 
 
 ".If you want my opinion," said Loring, "they 
 have both fully made up their minds to have it out. 
 And in the circumstances I am by no means sure 
 they are not right. " 
 
 "It is putting back the clock a hundred years," 
 said Evan Mauleverer.
 
 308 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Yes, but the circumstances are altogether ex- 
 ceptional. " 
 
 "I feel it to be our clear duty to avert a meeting 
 by every means in our power. I feel sure, my dear 
 Grundy, that you agree. " 
 
 "Well, since you ask me," said the leader of 
 the Centre, whose reputation was founded upon 
 compromise, "I am bound to say I do. I think the 
 proposal is altogether monstrous at this time of 
 day, and yet the odd thing is that I am by no means 
 clear that ethically it is not correct. " 
 
 "I expect we all feel that more or less," said 
 Evan Mauleverer sadly. "We have all of us felt 
 from the first that this thing has been played up 
 far too high." 
 
 "Why have you fellows played it up so high?" 
 asked the leader of the Centre. 
 
 "Well, it is hardly necessary to tell you," said 
 the leader of the Right, "that Draper has aroused 
 an extraordinary personal animus against himself. 
 I suppose it is inevitable that any man should who 
 sets class against class." 
 
 "We in the Centre, as you know," said Grundy, 
 adopting the suave legal manner which earlier in 
 his career had brought him fame at the Bar, "are 
 not prepared to admit that he has been guilty of 
 such a crime. Still we shall always respect the 
 bona fides of the duke and his friends," he added.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 309 
 
 "In their view Draper is an enemy of the country - 
 I will not say because he has hit the landlords so 
 hard in their pockets. I will not say because of 
 Draper's intimacy with the duchess, which I for 
 one believe to be entirely innocent. I am prepared 
 to believe that the antagonism is even deeper and 
 more subtle than this. I think it is because they 
 are fighting with their backs to the wall. They are 
 menaced as they never have been menaced in this 
 country since the time of Cromwell. They know 
 they have to deal with a very powerful adversary, 
 who seems to have rendered them desperate. And, 
 to vary the metaphor and to use a candour that I 
 hope will be forgiven, I am afraid that Rocking- 
 ham like a ruined gamester has been tempted to 
 use loaded dice." 
 
 "By God, you shan't say that!" said Loring hotly. 
 
 "But Rockingham has admitted the fact," said 
 Grundy tenaciously. 
 
 "I don't agree." 
 
 "Let us waive the point. But in any case it seems 
 impossible to compose the quarrel between them. 
 And we are still face to face with the problem of 
 what is the right course to pursue in these terribly 
 difficult circumstances." 
 
 "Yes, that is the eternal problem I grant you," 
 said Evan Mauleverer. "At all events, I think 
 one of us should see the King to-night. "
 
 3 io AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Do you advise taking him fully into our con- 
 fidence?" asked the leader of the Centre. 
 
 "Yes, I am in favour of that course myself. 
 After all, he is a man of the world. " 
 
 "But," said Grundy, "this affair will cause him 
 the greatest distress. Indeed I feel very strongly 
 that every means must be used to prevent them 
 from proceeding to extremities. Should any un- 
 toward accident happen, a very grave responsibility 
 will rest upon us all." 
 
 "Theoretically you are right," said Evan Maul- 
 everer, "but in practice I am afraid that none of us 
 has the power to prevent them. " 
 
 "Whatever view one takes of it," said Grundy, 
 "it is a very grievous matter. And in the present 
 state of the country it is a very deplorable matter. 
 And, in any case, I think before we decide to invoke 
 the aid of the King we shall do well to take the advice 
 ofLordPeveril." 
 
 Mauleverer and Loring saw at once the expedience 
 of this course. Thereupon the host sought out the 
 old man, whom he found to be engaged in writing 
 letters, and presently returned with him to the 
 library. 
 
 Mauleverer was deputed to tell the news. Lord 
 Peveril was shocked and distressed when he learned 
 what had occurred. He was strongly of opinion 
 that no means must be neglected by which Rocking-
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 311 
 
 ham and Draper could be prevented from proceeding 
 to extremities. 
 
 "It will be to the lasting discredit of all con- 
 cerned," said Lord Peveril, "if we permit this thing 
 to go on. Irreparable injury to the country is 
 bound to result. I will see this man myself. I am 
 sure it would be the King's desire. I will go at once." 
 
 Lord Peveril displayed the capacity for prompt 
 action of one half his years. A long lifetime's 
 association with representative minds and an 
 intimate knowledge of public affairs conferred a 
 very special authority upon him. The others felt 
 strengthened by his council and it was with a sense 
 of gratitude and relief that they sped him to his 
 mission to the village inn. 
 
 The master of the house ordered round a motor- 
 car, and Lord Peveril promised to return with the 
 least possible delay. 
 
 That return was most anxiously awaited. Was 
 it too much to hope that the wisdom of this old and 
 good man would prevail? As men of the world, 
 they were fain to believe that the line taken by 
 Draper, extreme and uncompromising as it was, 
 reflected no moral discredit upon him. "Unto him 
 that smiteth thee on one cheek offer also the other," 
 was to them hardly more than an academic precept. 
 They were content to take the world as they found 
 it; and the man who in the right place and season
 
 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 could return a blow, perhaps with interest added, 
 was he of whom the best account could be rendered. 
 
 Lord Peveril was away a full hour. He returned 
 in a state of the deepest dejection. Not only had 
 he found it impossible to move Draper from his 
 purpose, but it had hardly been possible to discuss 
 the subject with him.
 
 XIV 
 
 THE news was kept sedulously from the other 
 inmates of the house, but immediately after 
 dinner, a dull and gloomy meal, Lord Peveril sought 
 out Draper's wife. He led her apart to a quiet 
 corner of the drawing-room. In a few brief and 
 broken words he told her what had occurred. The 
 old man's manner made it clear to Lady Aline that 
 he was suffering the acutest distress of mind. 
 
 "My dear," said Lord Peveril with the tears 
 beginning to course down his face, "if your husband 
 perseveres in his present design, which is to kill 
 Rockingham at daybreak to-morrow, or if by any 
 mischance Rockingham should kill him, we shall 
 have the deluge upon us. The floodgates will 
 burst, the monarchy and all our most cherished 
 institutions will be swept away, and the country 
 will be bathed in blood from one end to the other. 
 Do not think these are the words of an alarmist. 
 Only too well do I know the state the country is in. 
 Only a miracle can keep Labour from the throat of 
 Capital as it is; your husband is the only man alive 
 who can perform that miracle, and if by any mis- 
 sis
 
 3H AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 chance he loses his life in this insane and wicked 
 brawl, or if by an almost equal mischance he is 
 insane and wicked enough to take the life of Rock- 
 ingham, we shall witness a thing too dreadful to 
 contemplate." 
 
 The wife of Draper was affected deeply by such 
 a speech. It proceeded from the lips of one for 
 whom she had a profound and instinctive reverence. 
 This was a known good man; moreover, an accom- 
 plished and wise man, whose habit it was on all 
 occasions of life to express himself temperately. 
 
 She was not an emotional woman. But now her 
 distress was very acute. Moreover, it was tinged 
 with remorse. Whatever had been the nature of 
 her husband's relations with Evelyn Rockingham, 
 and until the previous evening she had had good 
 reason to construe them in the worst possible light, 
 she now began to realize with an almost over- 
 whelming sense of shame and horror that she had 
 allowed herself to be made the tool of Rockingham 
 himself. 
 
 As the truth began to dawn upon her, she grew 
 deadly white. 
 
 "Oh, what have I done!" 
 
 One by one the words were wrung out of her. 
 
 Lord Peveril, the slow tears still coursing down 
 his cheeks, sat in silence by her side. 
 
 "Oh, my God, what have I done!"
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 315 
 
 The unhappy woman covered her face with her 
 hands. 
 
 All at once her pride and her will seemed to 
 break. The slight frame was shaken with emotion. 
 
 The old man by her side took one of the ice-cold 
 hands in his. 
 
 "I have been mad," she moaned. "I have been 
 base. I have been inconceivably wicked. God 
 forgive me. " Again she covered her face. 
 
 Lord Peveril was overcome with pity. Such a 
 distress was very painful to witness. 
 
 "Ought I to see him?" she asked wildly. "Could 
 I do any good if I went to see him to-night?" 
 
 "You yourself can be the sole judge of that," 
 said the old man very gently. 
 
 She shivered. There was something in the words, 
 kindly spoken as they were, that seemed to open 
 a vein in her body. 
 
 "O God!" she cried wildly. She clasped her 
 hands to her heart.
 
 XV 
 
 A LITTLE later that evening the occupant 
 of the private sitting-room at the Coach and 
 Horses was seated on a rickety chair at a rickety 
 table writing busily. He was completely absorbed 
 in his task. Now and again he paused to bite the 
 end of the penholder in order that he might grapple 
 the better with his thoughts. They appeared neither 
 to flow nor to be well ordered. 
 
 The face of the man was deeply lined and deadly 
 pale, It was framed by a mass of hair which in 
 a few weeks had grown almost white. The whole 
 aspect was that of one who suffers an almost insup- 
 portable burden, but whose will, thrice welded in 
 the furnace, still remains inviolate. Looking at such 
 a face without any knowledge of its history, an 
 observer must have felt it to be that of an indomita- 
 ble fighter perilously near his overthrow. 
 
 The act of composition was a sore labour. The 
 writer was trying to express something that was 
 elusive, intangible, that continually declined to be 
 expressed. Several times he wrote a sentence, 
 crossed it out, wrote over it, and then, still unsatis- 
 
 316
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 317 
 
 fied, destroyed the page. His gloomy eyes, tinged 
 a little with blood, began to show a look of hope- 
 lessness. Every fresh attempt that he made ap- 
 peared to take him a step farther from the goal of 
 his intention. 
 
 At last with a sigh of despair he laid down the pen. 
 It was as if he realized that he was overwrought and 
 that he did not enjoy the full use of his faculties. 
 His mental state could hardly have caused him 
 surprise. His head had not touched a pillow for 
 many weary hours. 
 
 Presently he closed his eyes and sought to impose 
 some control upon the race of his thoughts. They 
 were terribly insurgent. The exigencies of the hour 
 seemed to be pressing him to death. Fragments 
 of his early life began to present themselves at 
 intervals in this mental chimera; he heard his 
 mother's voice and saw her face. Then he saw the 
 face of one other and he felt a curious restriction of 
 the throat and breast. 
 
 What that other had meant to him the man of 
 iron will had hardly known until now. She and 
 his country were the supreme things in his life. 
 He had lost her. Was he about to lose his country? 
 was he about to destroy her by the dreadful step 
 of the morrow ? It had all been referred to the God 
 who was so real to him; yet, alas! in spite of his 
 faith, to which he clung with desperate tenacity, he
 
 3 i8 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 was in many ways no more than the creature of his 
 generation, a frail mortal shuddering upon the brink 
 of the abyss. 
 
 He was trying to indite a few brief pages of 
 counsel to the Sovereign, that true friend of the 
 country, in case of his own death at daybreak. 
 He was even seeking to vindicate his death in the 
 event of its occurrence. But how was it possible 
 to do that? What vindication was there for such 
 a deed? It must seem an act of gross selfishness 
 that he of all men should have deserted the ship 
 with the rocks grinding her keel. And yet what 
 could he do? He must go through with this thing. 
 It was part of his destiny. The voice of reason 
 had addressed him many remonstrances, but for 
 some little time past he had come to feel that he 
 had entered the region of the supra-natural. It was 
 as if his soul had passed into the custody of some 
 higher power. 
 
 He laid down the pen with a growing sense of 
 dismay. There was too much to be said to him 
 who of all men discerned his worth in the sum of 
 things. He recalled the whispered words of their 
 parting: "My dear Draper, if you find you can 
 serve under Rockingham, I think you will save us; 
 but if you find you cannot, I at least shall under- 
 stand." 
 
 Suddenly a moan escaped the man in his agony.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 319 
 
 Like an animal caught in a trap he realized that he 
 was taken in the coils of some unknown power. 
 When he had left London that morning it had been 
 his fixed determination to confer with Rockingham 
 and to enter his Cabinet if a way could be found. 
 But, confronted with the man in that miserable 
 little room, he had been suddenly possessed by some 
 primordial force which had made him speak and act 
 as he had not intended. 
 
 In the midst of the torment that was closing in 
 upon him, that was pinning him down, he seemed 
 to hear a soft footfall on the stairs. In a dim, 
 remote way it echoed through the chambers of his 
 brain. And then he began to realize that the door 
 of the sitting-room had opened and had closed again, 
 and that away beyond the lamp there was a presence 
 in the room. 
 
 With insurgent nerves he rose from his chair 
 at the table to satisfy himself that this was the fact. 
 There was a form in blurred outline, partly concealed 
 by the shadows of the door. 
 
 "Who is it?" he said hoarsely. 
 
 He had not to wait for an answer. 
 
 The reply was given in the low voice of a woman. 
 
 Without surprise he recognized it as the voice 
 which had been stealing through the inner purlieus 
 of his mind during the whole of that evening. 
 
 "Aline, "he said.
 
 320 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Yes it is I." 
 
 A cloak had been thrown over her dinner gown; 
 her shining, ordered hair was uncovered; the tiny 
 satin slippers made not a sound as they moved 
 toward him. 
 
 "Jim," she said, "I want you to kill me." 
 
 Limply, mutely, she sank down before him, 
 pressing her forehead against his knees. In the 
 next moment she had prostrated herself completely 
 at his feet. 
 
 For a little while she lay there. Then he gathered 
 her slowly in his arms and raised her up. With 
 a strength easily capable of crushing out the slender 
 exquisite life, he held the slight form before him. 
 
 She felt the labouring breaths meeting hers. 
 She did not struggle. But one thing she desired, 
 and that was that death should come to her swiftly. 
 
 Her eyes were wide at the level of his. All too 
 slowly darkness was overcoming them. She lay 
 perfectly passive, perfectly inert. She seemed to 
 feel that her life was ebbing, and yet she had not 
 expected death to be like this. 
 
 Quite suddenly it was borne in upon her senses 
 that his grip had relaxed, and that the light was 
 coming back to her eyes. There at the level of hers 
 were the eyes with the tinge of blood in them. The 
 face was full of an intolerable anguish; the forehead 
 was all wrung and distended.
 
 XVI 
 
 IN the next instant she had swooned. 
 She awoke presently to find arms of a famil- 
 iar tenderness about her. She lay back, brushing 
 her hair against his cheek. 
 
 ' All that had been their life in the past, which 
 in the madness of anger and reprisal had been 
 discarded, rushed back upon her. This was the 
 love she had known and betrayed; this was the 
 love she had spurned and forgotten. Again she 
 asked for death, but now he smothered in kisses 
 the lips that sought it. 
 
 In the anguish of remorse she could have screamed. 
 But already she was growing weak again. Like a 
 timid child afraid of the dark, she quivered against 
 his coat. Her whole being was shaken with sobs 
 that refused to come out of her body. 
 
 For hours she lay in his arms. In spite of all 
 that had happened, they were still as they were. 
 Perhaps more than they were. In their life together 
 they had known great moments. And now they 
 had passed through a furnace seven times heated. 
 Their passion was raised to a higher power. Perhaps 
 
 321
 
 322 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 never until then had she known what depths there 
 were in him, what a quality of mingled strength and 
 tenderness was his. It may have been that since 
 last they had lain in the arms of each other a cubit 
 had been added to each of their statures. At least 
 he meant more to her now than he had ever meant 
 to her formerly. 
 
 Was he not so much more than the indomitable 
 fighter, the successful politician? "I am sure you 
 will go far, " she had said to him on the night of their 
 marriage. "Wherever I go you must be with me 
 always," had been his answer. Again remorse over- 
 came her. What had she done! To what uttermost 
 Hades had she consigned him! 
 
 The hours passed. They both desired that 
 death should come to them, as thus they lay in the 
 arms of each other. Not a word was spoken except 
 when now and again he bade her very gently try 
 to sleep. But sleep was very far away. At the 
 back of her brain was dull terror. This night of 
 rekindled love and reconciliation must pass all too 
 soon. Her soul shuddered when she remembered 
 what the dawn must bring. 
 
 Some time after three o'clock by the crazy little 
 clock on the chimneypiece he carried her over very 
 tenderly to the sofa, and laid her there. Then he 
 draped the gay cloak about her, and sat down again 
 at the table, and took up the pen.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 323 
 
 He was far better able now to order his thoughts. 
 The words began to flow. He found it possible to 
 draw up a sort of precis of the situation for the 
 guidance of the Sovereign in case of his own death 
 at daybreak. Also he wrote a score of letters to be 
 delivered, in that event, to those who looked to him 
 for guidance. 
 
 He worked calmly and well until about six o'clock, 
 while the occupant of the sofa lay watching him, 
 with wide, haunted eyes. Then his labours were 
 disturbed by a knock on the door, and a slatternly 
 maid-servant came into the room. She had brought 
 the information that a gentleman was below in the 
 coffee-room who desired to speak with him. 
 
 He descended there and on the threshold of that 
 dismal apartment, smelling strongly of cheese and 
 stale sauces, he was received by a burly, rubicund 
 individual in a mackintosh with the collar turned up, 
 and a soft hat pulled down over his eyes. 
 
 They entered the coffee-room together, closing 
 the door after them. The visitor then removed 
 his hat, unbuttoned his mackintosh, turned down 
 the collar, and disclosed the homely features of the 
 master of Cloudesley. 
 
 "The duke has asked me to act for him," he said 
 bluntly and briefly. "Who is your own man?" 
 
 "Grundy, I hope. I know of no one else. Please 
 try to persuade him. I sincerely hope he will,
 
 324 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 although it seems unkind to ask him, because he is 
 beyond all things a man of peace." 
 
 "Yes, it seems hardly his line of country," said 
 Loring, with a rather forced laugh. "But there 
 is no one else apparently. We can try him, at any 
 rate. Will eight o'clock suit you? There should 
 be light enough by then. " 
 
 "Eight o'clock will suit me perfectly." 
 
 "In one of the fields at the back here?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Very well. Grundy and I will choose the 
 ground that's if he'll act, of course. Rockingham, 
 by the way, has chosen pistols, although I am to 
 tell you that he is quite willing that the choice of 
 weapons should be left to you. " 
 
 " I am very much obliged to him. Pistols then. " 
 
 "He thinks it would be advisable to use weapons 
 and cartridges of a similar type. I happen to have 
 a pair of Webleys. Will those do?" 
 
 "Yes, thanks." 
 
 "Very well. Eight o'clock. And Grundy and 
 I will choose and mark the ground. " 
 
 Lord Loring concluded the interview with a brisk 
 and businesslike air, and marched out of the coffee- 
 room into the mirk and the rain of a rather wild 
 February morning.
 
 XVII 
 
 MR. DRAPER courteously attended his visitor 
 to the inn door and watched him depart. 
 He then summoned the slatternly servant girl, and 
 ordered some tea to be brought up to the sitting- 
 room at seven o'clock. Then he returned to his 
 labours. 
 
 Still perfectly calm, with mind clear and well 
 ordered, he continued to write, while the occupant 
 of the sofa lay watching him. The look of horror 
 was still in her eyes. A little before seven his 
 labours were at an end, and the last packet sealed. 
 Then he sat by the side of his wife, gently chafing 
 her ice-cold hands. 
 
 Not a word did they speak. The fateful minutes 
 passed. Again were they experiencing that passion 
 of the spirit which had borne them through the night. 
 
 Suddenly, without preliminaries of any kind, a 
 woman came quite unexpectedly into the room. 
 
 It was Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 The occupant of the sofa sprang to her feet as 
 if a blow had been dealt her. Her husband took 
 her in his arms and gently made her lie down again. 
 
 325
 
 326 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Come over here, my dear Evelyn," he said. 
 "Come and put your hand in hers. You have both 
 to promise me that you will be friends." 
 
 Evelyn came at once to the sofa with both hands 
 outstretched. There was a radiance in her eyes 
 that only a true woman could have displayed. 
 
 Lady Aline shuddered in her embrace. 
 
 "You have been diligent," said Evelyn Rocking- 
 ham to Draper, in a tone of carefully assumed 
 lightness, as her eyes fell on the great pile of letters 
 on the table. 
 
 " I have need to be, " said the writer of the letters 
 in a weary voice. "By the way, tell me, how have 
 you passed the night over there?" 
 
 "You may well ask. Everything is in a state 
 of inconceivable panic and turmoil." 
 
 "Has the affair leaked out?" Draper asked the 
 question under his breath. 
 
 "Yes, I am afraid. It was known to too many, 
 you see. Some of the women may not know. 
 I don't believe Alice Loring does. But all the men 
 are in the secret. " 
 
 "I am sorry for that," said Draper, still in a 
 very low tone. 
 
 " It was inevitable, I fear. And I understand they 
 are bringing all possible pressure to bear upon 
 Robert not to meet you." 
 
 He made no comment.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 327 
 
 "But I feel I ought to say at once, my dear 
 James, they will not succeed. They don't know their 
 Rockingham. His Grace's Cabinet has been sitting 
 all night in the library in earnest deliberation, and 
 his Grace has been sitting all night reading Thack- 
 eray in his private room. " 
 
 "What is the result of their deliberations?" 
 
 "That I don't know. The conference was still 
 sitting at six o'clock this morning. Everything 
 is at sixes and sevens. No two members of the 
 Cabinet seem to think alike. One great problem 
 has been whether they should invoke the aid of 
 the King." 
 
 "I hope they have not been so unwise," said 
 Draper anxiously. 
 
 "No, they have not been so unwise. They de- 
 cided finally to call Lord Peveril into their councils, 
 and pledged themselves to be guided by his advice. " 
 
 "I am sure he would be dead against it," said 
 Draper, with a sigh of relief. 
 
 "Yes, he was strongly of opinion that now was 
 not the time for the matter to be brought to the ears 
 of the King." 
 
 "Sensible old man." 
 
 "By the way, there is a rumour that Evan Maul- 
 everer is in possession of a letter from the King 
 which is only to be opened in the event of Robert 
 being unable to complete his Cabinet. "
 
 328 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 The President of the Committee of Public Safety 
 smiled rather dourly. 
 
 "Yes, my dear Evelyn, I think I am in a position 
 to confirm that rumour." 
 
 Her expressive face grew flushed and startled. 
 
 "Oh, do tell me!" she said. "You are acquainted 
 with the contents ? " 
 
 "I am afraid that is rather a leading question," 
 said Draper impassively. 
 
 "Oh, do tell me. I am sure you know. " 
 
 "I cannot admit that I know, even if I know I do. 
 It was very wrong to admit that I was even aware 
 of the existence of the letter. " 
 
 Pain and deep disappointment contended in the 
 face of Evelyn. 
 
 "Forgive me," he said very gently. "Heaven 
 knows what depends upon this letter. It may be 
 the crux of the whole thing. Pray forget that 
 I made such an unguarded admission, but, hav- 
 ing made it, beyond all things I desire to know 
 whether that letter has been opened and read to the 
 Cabinet." 
 
 "To the best of my information it had not been 
 opened at six o'clock. I understand that the ques- 
 tion of opening the letter has been debated furiously 
 for two hours, and that at six o'clock they were still 
 unable to reach a decision on the point. " 
 
 "What is their difficulty? It is abundantly clear
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 329 
 
 that Rockingham will never be able to complete 
 his Cabinet on the lines laid down." 
 
 "Evan Mauleverer and the other extremists are, 
 I believe, the lions in the gate. They think the 
 time has not yet come. And they think that when 
 the time does come the letter should be opened by 
 Robert himself." 
 
 "Perhaps they are right there. And yet I don't 
 think it matters particularly by whom it is opened. 
 By the way, did I understand you to say that his 
 Grace has taken no part in these deliberations?" 
 
 "Absolutely none. He has never left his private 
 room all night." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "That's the man. He's past all understanding." 
 
 "Indifference?" 
 
 "No, I should be inclined to say pride. He must 
 always be grand seigneur. He must never dismount 
 from the high horse. He must never raise a finger 
 openly, whatever he may do under the rose." The 
 voice of Rockingham's wife had taken a note of bitter 
 contempt. "It is his strength and his weakness. 
 He is a very strange enigma." 
 
 "Well, his aloofness may undo him." 
 
 "It may, but human nature is a strange thing. 
 All sorts of qualities have been read into him that 
 he doesn't possess. Some of them speak of him 
 as a man of blood and iron, but personally one would
 
 330 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 be inclined to say of him as Bismarck said of Salis- 
 bury, he is a lath painted to look like iron." 
 
 Draper shook his head rather sadly. 
 
 "I am by no means clear upon that point, my 
 dear Evelyn," he said, "but it will be a very merciful 
 dispensation for this country if that proves to be 
 the case." 
 
 At this point the conversation was interrupted 
 by the slatternly servant girl, who came in to lay 
 the breakfast. 
 
 Draper gave a glance at the clock. 
 
 "Twenty past seven," he said. "I have until 
 eight."
 
 XVIII 
 
 AN EXTRA cup was sent for, and each of them 
 drank a cup of tea. Yielding to the maternal 
 solicitude of Evelyn Rockingham, Draper ate a slice 
 of bread and butter. His self-possession was very 
 remarkable. In the mind of his wife and in the 
 mind of his friend was a clear conviction that either 
 he or his adversary would lose his life. Their 
 antagonism was bitter, deep-rooted, intense. There 
 could be no doubt that each had suffered heavily 
 at the hands of the other. Having proceeded to 
 such an extremity, neither was likely to stay his 
 hand at the eleventh hour. Draper was not the man 
 to flinch from any issue, however grim it might be; 
 and Rockingham, slow to move, was known to have 
 the ruthless force of will of a historic line of warriors. 
 
 At twenty minutes to eight Draper retired to 
 perform a scanty toilet. When after the absence 
 of a few minutes he returned to the sitting-room 
 he found the faithful Grundy there. 
 
 "Ah, my dear Grundy," he said in his frank and 
 cordial way, "this is indeed noble of you." 
 
 The leader of the Centre was affected almost to 
 331
 
 332 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 tears. Unable to reply, he averted his face from 
 that of his colleague. It looked painfully strained 
 and ashen white. 
 
 "It is a bad, and mad, and sad business," he said 
 bitterly. "I should have judged myself to be a man 
 of too much sense to bear a part in such a piece 
 of buffoonery. " 
 
 Draper placed his hand impulsively on the shoul- 
 der of the elder man. 
 
 "Somebody had to stand, my friend," he said 
 in a low tone, "and I asked for you. It is noble 
 of you. " 
 
 "It is a piece of wicked folly," said the ex-Prime 
 Minister. "I shall never be able to forgive myself 
 for being a party to this transaction, and yet, as 
 you say, some one had to be your friend." 
 
 "Mr. Grundy, " said Evelyn Rockingham, coming 
 forward from the window from which she had been 
 looking into the dawn, "can you tell me what is the 
 result of the deliberations of the Cabinet? What 
 course is to be taken?" 
 
 The statesman to whom the question was ad- 
 dressed shook his head. "Forgive me if I reveal 
 no secrets," he said. 
 
 "I do not ask for secrets," said she. "I was 
 hoping you had made the result of your deliberations 
 known to the world. " 
 
 "Whatever decision may have been arrived at,"
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 333 
 
 said Mr. Grundy, with the marked kindness of tone 
 which endeared him to so many, "I am afraid for 
 the present the world must remain in ignorance. " 
 
 "It is five minutes to eight, my dear Grundy," 
 said Draper. "Let us pay the compliment of being 
 on the ground at the time appointed." 
 
 "As you wish," said the ex-Prime Minister. 
 
 He turned abruptly as he spoke, and, without so 
 much as a glance at either of the two women, or 
 without taking any sort of leave of them, he led the 
 way out of the room and down the stairs. Draper 
 lingered a moment before he followed in his wake. 
 In that moment he had kissed the ashen cheek of his 
 wife, and had taken the two hands of Evelyn Rock- 
 ingham in his own. 
 
 "Be of good courage, deliverer of my country," 
 whispered his friend softly as his sombre eyes met 
 hers. 
 
 When at last he was gone the two women sat 
 forlornly apart. Evelyn sat by the window looking 
 through the chill half-light across the inn-yard. 
 Aline crouched shivering over the uncertain fire. 
 For some little time each remained motionless, 
 and in absolute silence. Not a word was spoken 
 by either. 
 
 At last the woman at the window knelt very 
 quietly before the chair in which she had been seated 
 and began to pray. A little afterward the other
 
 334 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 woman slipped to her knees also, and pressing her 
 head to the sofa began instinctively to do the same. 
 
 For a period of time that seemed to them both 
 much longer than in point of fact it was, the two 
 women remained upon their knees. In some subtle 
 way of which neither was overtly conscious they 
 seemed to derive strength from the nearness of each 
 other. That their thoughts were centred on the 
 same thing appeared to lend a curious intimacy to 
 their emotion. 
 
 The clock upon the chimneypiece told the half- 
 hour after eight. As if galvanized into life by the 
 sound, Evelyn Rockingham sprang to her feet. 
 
 Overwhelming anguish forced her to utter a cry. 
 
 "Oh, my God!" She pressed her hands to her 
 forehead, almost as if she was afraid that everything 
 would go. 
 
 The sense of intolerable tension was relieved by a 
 thud upon the carpet. It was the sound of a body 
 falling. She turned to look at the sofa, and found 
 Aline insensible upon the floor. 
 
 Evelyn gathered the frail form in her strong arms. 
 She laid it on the sofa. Then she knelt and chafed 
 the cold hands. When a little warmth had been 
 restored to them Evelyn rose unsteadily. Her 
 temples were throbbing as if they would burst. 
 She seemed hardly able to breathe. 
 
 She walked across to the window and opened it,
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 335 
 
 and thrust forth her head to meet the rain. Hardly 
 aware of what she did, her unseeing eyes roved out to 
 the landscape. And then all at once her attention 
 was caught by a distant object. Below and away 
 beyond the inn-yard, at the extreme verge of the 
 mist, perhaps a hundred yards distant, the faint and 
 blurred outline of a sombre figure fixed her eyes. 
 
 The figure was that of a man in the act of closing 
 a gate. Such a detached human effigy was without 
 significance for a mind distraught, and yet in some 
 remote way it had the power to make a direct 
 personal appeal. Straining her eyes to meet it as it 
 came slowly and heavily through the mire of the 
 inn-yard, the light of the morning began imper- 
 ceptibly to clothe it with a familiar aspect. The 
 senses were too overwrought to realize what was 
 happening. But the impact of the oncoming figure 
 was unmistakable. It was rather tall, and had a 
 gait that was a little ungainly, although the stride 
 was large and free. And then a rush of blood dark- 
 ened her eyes and her senses reeled. 
 
 With a cry she ran to the sofa, and with wild 
 caresses embraced the shivering form that lay in- 
 ertly upon it.
 
 HE IS coming back! "Evelyn whispered hoarsely. 
 The four simple words were too much for the 
 woman who loved the victor. In a surge of feeling 
 altogether beyond her control she strained close 
 to her who spoke. All was forgotten in that moment. 
 The long, slow, inevitable antagonism was almost as 
 though it had never been. 
 
 "He is coming back ! " The wife repeated the words. 
 
 Gratitude had brought reaction. Almost for the 
 first time she was melted to tears. The proud spirit 
 was broken. 
 
 There came the sound of a heavy, deliberate 
 footfall on the stairs. 
 
 "He is here!" 
 
 Together they rose to receive him. 
 
 He entered the shabby little room with the same 
 air of deliberation with which he had left it. The 
 wet was gleaming on his overcoat. Evelyn drew back 
 a little in order that Aline might come forward to 
 help him to remove it. 
 
 Hardly any change had taken place in him. His 
 face had still a deadly pallor, but his eyes in lieu of 
 
 336
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 337 
 
 their inscrutable sombreness had almost the light of 
 exaltation. 
 
 Neither woman uttered a word. Draper stood 
 between them. He took the hand of each, but he 
 had the look of a man who walks in his sleep. 
 
 "If it is anything we oughtn't to hear !" said 
 
 Evelyn in a voice that emotion had rendered un- 
 recognizable. 
 
 The sound of her voice, which was yet so remote 
 from her own, had the effect of bringing him back 
 to the present. He started as one in the act of 
 emerging from a dream. 
 
 "I will tell you exactly what happened," he 
 
 said, "unless !" He pressed gently the cold 
 
 fingers of his friend. 
 
 "Unless!" she echoed, beginning to tremble. 
 
 "No, it is not that," he said quickly. "We never 
 met at all. " 
 
 "You never met at all!" She repeated the 
 incredible phrase very slowly. "But that is not 
 Rockingham. " 
 
 "As you have always said, my dear Evelyn, we 
 none of us know our Rockingham." 
 
 A great surge of feeling threatened to overmaster 
 her. 
 
 "Yes, that is true at any rate," she assented a 
 little hysterically. "We none of us know our 
 Rockingham." She fought for composure and
 
 338 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 finally gained it. "Tell me, please, in two words, 
 what occurred. " 
 
 "It can be told in less. But no, it shall be told 
 with circumstance." In spite of an iron control 
 he kept upon himself he could not repress a certain 
 ring in his voice. "Grundy and I walked through 
 the mud across the fields to the place he and Loring 
 had selected. Loring had been chosen by Rocking- 
 ham as his second. It was three minutes after 
 eight by the time we got there, but there was not 
 a sign of either of our men. We took shelter under 
 the trees of a sort of spinney near by and awaited 
 their arrival. We filled in the time by discussing 
 the mysteries of .38 Webleys, a pair of which Loring 
 had undertaken to provide. I had to confess that 
 I had never fired off a pistol in my life, whereupon 
 I was informed that Rockingham was considered 
 rather an expert shot. Rather tactless of my 
 second, I thought. Well, to cut a long story short, 
 we waited solemnly until twenty minutes past 
 eight, then, lo and behold! Loring came alone 
 across the fields. There was never a sign of 
 Rockingham. 'Come, where is your man?' I asked, 
 feeling a greater access of valour than I think I 
 have ever experienced in my life. 'Reading the 
 words of Thackeray, like a wise fellow,' growled 
 poor Loring, the very picture of a discomfited 
 sportsman. 'But he's sent you this.' He began to
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 339 
 
 fumble in his mackintosh. 'That is, if I can find 
 the damned thing. ' My lord fumbled and fumbled, 
 but he was hanged if he could find the thing. 'Upon 
 my word, Loring,' said Grundy, looking more war- 
 like than I ever thought him to be capable of looking, 
 'you are absolutely the most incompetent second 
 I have ever had to do with in the whole course of my 
 experience.' 'Oh, you wait a minute and be 
 damned to you,' said Loring. 'I shall find it 
 presently.' 'What are you looking for?' I asked. 
 'Wait till I've found it and then you'll know,' 
 snapped Loring. He began to go through each one 
 of his pockets solemnly, and then a flash of inspira- 
 tion came to him and he remembered that he had 
 put it in his cigar case. Finally he produced the 
 document, and here it is for you to read. " 
 
 Draper produced the letter in question and handed 
 it to Evelyn Rockingham. The envelope was 
 inscribed in the rather florid handwriting of the 
 duke to the Right Honourable James Draper, M. P. 
 She read as follows: 
 
 SIR: Yielding to the importunity of my col- 
 leagues, I have decided not to keep the appointment 
 made on my behalf for this morning at eight o'clock. 
 I may say that this step involves my withdrawal 
 from political life. I remain, sir, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 ROCKINGHAM. "
 
 340 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 The wife of Rockingham made no comment upon 
 this document. Knowing the veiled ambition of 
 the man, knowing his sensitive dignity, she realized 
 that this had not been an easy letter to write. 
 
 "Poor Robert!" she said at last in a rather queer 
 voice. 
 
 "Poor Rockingham?" he echoed softly. 
 
 "Well, it was bound to happen to one of you," 
 said Evelyn. "There would have been no room 
 for you both in one Cabinet. But enormous pres- 
 sure must have been brought to bear upon him. 
 Your victory is swifter and more complete than 
 your friends could have hoped. " 
 
 "The victory is not mine," said Draper. "It 
 is the victory of the day and generation. The old 
 order changes. Rockingham stood for the past; 
 a very brilliant, rather tragic, not inglorious past. 
 He stood for the few against the many. And the 
 many have prevailed, as prevail they always must, 
 if they are only efficiently organized and efficiently 
 led. It is my earnest prayer that the world will 
 have no reason to regret his decision. " 
 
 "I echo that prayer," said Evelyn softly. "I 
 can only say I believe the world will be the better 
 for his withdrawal. The few may have less in the 
 way of cushions to lie on, but I think the many 
 will at least be assured of a mattress or a bundle 
 of straw. Do you agree with me, Aline?"
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 341 
 
 The wife of Draper, still wearing her dinner dress 
 of the evening before, stood near the fire with her 
 cloak gathered round her shoulders. In spite of 
 an expression of joy in her face she looked very 
 worn and pale. 
 
 "I am afraid I don't understand these things," 
 she said. "I never have understood them. I only 
 know that I have never liked the many." 
 
 "Yet you married one of them," said her husband. 
 
 "No," she rejoined with a wan smile, "I married 
 one of the few. " 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham loosed a peal of laughter. 
 
 "What have you to say to that, my democrat!" 
 she cried. 
 
 The democrat had to admit that he was baffled.
 
 XX 
 
 THE door of the sitting-room opened to admit 
 the leader of the Centre. Mr. Grundy, urbane 
 of countenance, entered light yet firm of step. 
 
 He bowed to the two women and then shook 
 hands with Draper. 
 
 "Allow me," he said, "to be the first to offer 
 congratulations to the Prime Minister of England." 
 
 Draper changed colour ever so slightly. 
 
 "I have been asked to convey to you," said the 
 leader of the Centre, perhaps a little rhetorically, 
 "the unanimous invitation, subject to the King's 
 approval, of the three parties to undertake the task 
 of forming a Government. Further, you are em- 
 powered to exercise an absolutely free hand in the 
 formation of a Cabinet. " 
 
 Mr. Draper bowed his head. They noticed how 
 white it had become. The tall, rather ungainly 
 figure looked bent and aged. The luminous face 
 was strangely furrowed by suffering. 
 
 "My dear friend," he said humbly, with tears 
 in his eyes, as he placed his hand in that of his 
 colleague, "I rejoice that if such news had to be 
 
 342
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 343 
 
 brought to me you are the bearer. We have fought 
 many battles side by side. I hope you will help 
 me now." 
 
 The elder and less emotional man was also visibly 
 moved. 
 
 "Any little aid it may be mine to give," he said 
 simply, "I freely bestow. I rejoice that in this 
 dark hour the country has been visited by wisdom, 
 I will even say visited by as great a wisdom as it 
 has ever known. I also rejoice that it has so wise 
 and true a friend in the Throne." He clasped the 
 right hand of his colleague in both his own. "God 
 be with you, my dear fellow! God bless you!" 
 
 The emotions not of the men alone, but of the 
 women also, had been wrought to a pitch of curious 
 intensity. A silence ensued which was broken at 
 last by Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 " It insures a measure of industrial peace," she said. 
 "We can all congratulate ourselves upon that." 
 
 "Yes, I think it does," said the leader of the 
 Centre. 
 
 "Perhaps at a great cost to some of us," said 
 Evelyn. 
 
 "Perhaps," said the leader of the Centre. "Yet 
 I feel we are all entitled to hope not. The situation 
 is one of great peril and difficulty, but we all realize 
 now with devout and thankful hearts that the hour 
 has brought forth the man. I think it is no idle
 
 344 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 prophecy that the Prime Minister will have a united 
 Cabinet which will prove capable of restoring order 
 in the country. " 
 
 "We will pray that it succeeds," said Evelyn 
 Rockingham. And then she added with a rather 
 strained laugh to cloak the unabashed curiosity of 
 her sex, "Perhaps now, Mr. Grundy, you will kindly 
 tell us what the sealed letter contained that was sent 
 by the King to Evan Mauleverer. " 
 
 "My dear Duchess, I wager you have guessed 
 that long ago," said Mr. Grundy with an arch smile. 
 
 "I will hazard a guess, at all events. Was it not 
 to inform all whom it might concern that in the 
 event of Rockingham being unable to complete 
 his Cabinet there was only one man in the kingdom 
 who could insure the safety of the monarchy?" 
 
 Mr. Grundy was proof against this feminine im- 
 portunity. 
 
 "The secrets of the constitution are sacred," he 
 said with a rather mischievous smile. 
 
 "Admit, at least, that my long shot is uncom- 
 fortably near the target. " 
 
 "Not a thousand miles off the target, perhaps. 
 And perchance the shot itself is not made at quite 
 the long range you would have us believe. " 
 
 "My dear Mr. Grundy, I wish you would be a 
 little less cryptic. Yet I have observed it to be 
 a quality that flourishes in the hearts of all who
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 345 
 
 have been Prime Ministers. Still there is one small 
 fact that may not be without an interest for you. 
 When the secret history of this troublous time 
 comes to be written, the inspiration of this famous 
 letter is not unlikely to be traced to a meddlesome 
 female of the period." 
 
 Mr. Grundy held his hands high before his face, 
 almost as if he would rebuke such levity. 
 
 "Duchess, you are incorrigible!" he said. 
 
 "And now that I have given away this great 
 secret," she said, "may I in turn demand one? 
 Tell me, was it not that letter that finally undid 
 Rockingham?" 
 
 Mr. Grundy shook his responsible, statesmanlike 
 head. 
 
 As Evelyn Rockingham had put the question, hef 
 air of badinage had seemed suddenly to desert her. 
 
 "There is no need for you to answer." Her voice 
 fell. "I know that. I feel it here." She placed 
 her hand on her heart. "Poor dear Robert! What 
 a strange coil the gods weave about us when they 
 set to work! Who could have foreseen that that 
 letter involved his complete and final overthrow?" 
 
 "Evan Mauleverer foresaw it at any rate," 
 said the leader of the Centre, almost with the air of 
 one who speaks aside. "As soon as the letter was 
 opened he pulled his long face and said, 'At all 
 events, that's the end of Us.' "
 
 346 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Sapient man!" said Evelyn Rockingham. "But 
 opposition always seems to sharpen his wits for him. 
 Do tell me, was Robert present when that letter was 
 read to his Cabinet?" 
 
 "Ah, no! His Grace was in his chamber busily 
 preparing a trout fly. " 
 
 "Are you quite sure his Grace was not absorbed 
 in the study of "Vanity Fair?" It is always well 
 to give a touch of colour to the histoire intime of a 
 really critical period. " 
 
 "It may have been so," said the leader of the 
 Centre, conceding the point gracefully. "At least 
 it may have been sufficiently so for the matter to 
 be debated by the well-informed in the time to come. 
 But at all events it may be accepted beyond con- 
 troversy that his Grace was in his chamber when 
 the famous document was read aloud to the members 
 of his Cabinet. " 
 
 Evelyn laughed a little wryly. 
 
 "It is well, at least," she said, "to establish that 
 salient fact upon a historic basis. Now please tell 
 me this, Mr. Grundy if you would see me the 
 Madame Liebenstein of the future who was it 
 who finally bore the epoch-making document to be 
 perused by his Grace in the sanctity of the ducal 
 apartment? Was it poor dear Evan himself?" 
 
 "No," said the leader of the Centre, "poor dear 
 Evan rather funked it. "
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 347 
 
 " Really funked Jt?" 
 
 "Well, you see, with that letter to guide us, we 
 ventured to draw up a round robin, which, by the 
 way, every man of us signed, earnestly praying the 
 duke in the name of his King and country to refrain 
 from taking the field at eight o'clock. " 
 
 "Oho! How delicious ! At what hour was that?" 
 
 "A quarter past seven by the morning." 
 
 "One foresees that the memoirs will have un 
 succes fou. Now tell me this, Mr. Grundy: If it 
 was not poor dear Evan who had the courage to 
 bear the round robin of the Cabinet together with 
 the communication of the Sovereign to his Grace 
 in the sanctity of the ducal apartment, who was 
 the paladin? I demand the name of that Bayard 
 in the sacred name of the muse of history. " 
 
 "I, my dear Duchess, I was the man," said the 
 leader of the Centre modestly. 
 
 "And alone you did it?" 
 
 "Alone I did it." 
 
 "Now tell me this, Mr. Grundy, and I promise 
 it shall be my last question: In what manner did 
 Robert receive his conge?" 
 
 Mr. Grundy smiled rather dourly. 
 
 "Well," said he, "if I must speak the truth, he 
 took it with absolute indifference. It was really 
 wonderful. It was as though he could hardly bring 
 himself to be interested in the matter at all. "
 
 348 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "Yes but that is so like him." 
 
 "Well, it was a very remarkable exhibition con-, 
 sidering what it must have meant to him. Poor 
 fellow!" 
 
 There was an odd note of sympathy in the voice 
 of the leader of the Centre. He was a man who 
 differed fundamentally from such a man as Rocking- 
 ham. There was scarcely anything they had in 
 common unless it was a desire to conserve the 
 resources of their country. Indeed, deep down 
 in their characters was a very real antagonism. 
 But the note of pity rang true and somehow it had 
 the power to touch a responsive chord in the heart 
 of Rockingham's wife. 
 
 Suddenly she felt a stab of remorse. Was she 
 not rejoicing in the tents of her husband's victorious 
 enemies, when he, utterly overthrown, lay sick of 
 his wounds. She had never loved Rockingham, she 
 had never understood him. If for any length of 
 time she allowed her mind to dwell on that enig- 
 matic personality, a sense of deep-rooted aversion 
 was invariably aroused in it. 
 
 But remorse came upon her now. She had a 
 subtle consciousness that more than any one she 
 had contrived his defeat. All feeling for him was 
 long since dead, but there was enough of the woman 
 in her to make her suffer a vicarious pang that his 
 overthrow should be so complete.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 349 
 
 There and then, upon a sudden impulse, she deter- 
 mined to take a course that in victory would have 
 been impossible. She would go to him. Perhaps 
 she might be able to help him a little. It might 
 even be given to her to staunch the grievous wound 
 that she herself had dealt.
 
 XXI 
 
 IT was not immediately possible for Evelyn 
 to translate her strange resolve into action. 
 At the instance of the leader of the Centre, whose 
 practical mind was apt to repose upon a purely 
 material basis, breakfast was in process of being 
 prepared for four persons. 
 
 The two statesmen were insistent that she should 
 share their modest meal. It was their intention, 
 as soon as nature had been fortified, to repair to 
 London. At the earliest moment they proposed to 
 carry in person to the King the tidings of the all- 
 important decision. 
 
 There could be little doubt that the public safety 
 was assured. The knot had been cut by Rocking- 
 ham's withdrawal. The ablest man in the country 
 was now free to govern it. The moderate men of 
 all faiths, the real backbone of the nation, had 
 rallied to his standard. In spite of all the massed 
 and subtle forces of reaction, a solution along the 
 line of true development was now possible. 
 
 Having regard to the exigencies of the situation, 
 the meal was surprisingly cheerful. Suspense it is 
 
 350
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 351 
 
 that kills. The long night of doubt, of conflict, of 
 divided counsel was at an end. Rightly or wrongly, 
 for better, for worse, the course of the ship of state 
 was now clear. 
 
 "Duchess," said Mr. Grundy as he handed her 
 a boiled egg the precarious nature of the inn 
 cookery forbade anything more elaborate "I 
 think you deserve well of your country. " 
 
 "Yes, I think she does," said Lady Aline, who was 
 seated opposite to her. 
 
 The face of Evelyn Rockingham was suddenly 
 flecked with colour. In the simple speech of the 
 woman who had misunderstood her motives was the 
 vindication of much that she had done. 
 
 "Thank you, my dear Aline," she said. "You 
 cannot think what it means to me that you should 
 say that." 
 
 "May I thank you also," said Mr. Draper. 
 
 "For what have either of you to thank me?" 
 said Lady Aline. 
 
 "We thank you for your magnanimity," said 
 Evelyn Rockingham. 
 
 "In misjudging one so much better than my- 
 self?" 
 
 "No, not for that," said Evelyn. "I say to you 
 quite frankly that I cannot presume to claim the 
 least superiority. Since last night you are so much 
 more than you were."
 
 352 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 "I pray, my dear Evelyn, that that may be said 
 of us all," said Mr. Draper in his sombre voice. 
 "It is hardly likely that any one of us can pass 
 through such an ordeal without adding a cubit to 
 
 our stature." 
 
 "I quite agree," said Mr. Grundy, helping himself 
 to a second egg. 
 
 "One wonders if the same can be said of poor dear 
 Robert," said Evelyn Rockingham in a voice that 
 fell. "One wonders if he has added his cubit also." 
 
 " I am perfectly convinced of it, my dear Duchess," 
 said Mr. Grundy. "Of course we none of us know 
 our Rockingham, as I believe you are ever the first 
 to allow, but there is just one thing I would like to 
 say to you here and now. As one who has seen 
 something of the duke during these negotiations, 
 I would like to place on record that I believe him 
 to be a very valuable asset to his country. He has 
 the mind of a statesman, and the heart of a patriot, 
 and that is much to say of any man." 
 
 Mr. Grundy's words were charged with a depth 
 of feeling that surprised his hearers. Such a per- 
 sonality as that of Rockingham must have been 
 antipathetic to him in almost every fibre. But 
 throughout that long night of conflict these two 
 alien natures had stood staunchly together in a last 
 desperate attempt to stave off irreparable disaster. 
 The goal had been won at the price of bitter sacrifice
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 353 
 
 to one of them, and the leader of the Centre now 
 paid homage to him whom a few hours ago he might 
 have been tempted to judge very differently. 
 
 The silence which followed Mr. Grundy's words 
 was broken at last by the deep voice of the Prime 
 Minister. 
 
 "He is a man I cannot even begin to understand," 
 he said with perfect simplicity. "But at least we 
 will hope he has added his cubit also." 
 
 Evelyn Rockingham rose suddenly from the table. 
 
 "It is time I went to him," she said, "to find out 
 for myself. Poor Robert! Perhaps he may have 
 need of me." A feminine pang passed through 
 her as she spoke. 
 
 She took an affectionate leave of the two states- 
 men. They were about to motor to London, to 
 convey the decision to the King. Upon descending 
 the stairs she found a car waiting for them at the 
 inn door. 
 
 It was her intention to walk back to the house. 
 It was less than half a mile distant, and she was shod 
 and clad well enough to cope with a typical February 
 morning. 
 
 As had been the case throughout the night, it was 
 still raining steadily, but in no great volume. The 
 air of the morning seemed delicious after the rather 
 fetid atmosphere of the little inn sitting-room. 
 
 She had not left the neighbourhood of the inn door
 
 354 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 before a second motor-car drove up quickly. A 
 man alighted from it almost without waiting for it 
 to stop. He was clearly taken aback by finding 
 himself confronted by Evelyn Rockingham 
 
 "Halloa!" he said. 
 
 The man was Lord Loring. 
 
 "Is anything the matter, Loring?" she asked. 
 
 There was something in his swift descent from 
 the car, in the way in which he spoke, in the look 
 on his rather bucolic face, that somehow suggested 
 that there was. 
 
 "Oh, no," he said curtly, and with an obvious effort 
 to find words. "Tell me have they started yet?" 
 
 "No; you will find them upstairs finishing break- 
 fast." 
 
 "Thank goodness!" Loring's relief was evident. 
 " I was afraid they might have gone already. I have 
 something of importance to tell them. " 
 
 "Is it anything that I can hear too?" 
 
 The face of Loring seemed to grow more perturbed. 
 
 "I would rather speak to them in private," he 
 said curtly. 
 
 "Very well, I will go back to the house. I want 
 to see poor Robert. I hope nothing has occurred 
 to alter the situation. " 
 
 She turned her head as she spoke and beheld 
 Loring in the act of disappearing hastily through 
 the door of the inn.
 
 XXII 
 
 FOR a moment she stood on the inn threshold 
 in a state of acute indecision. She would 
 dearly have liked to turn and follow Loring. But a 
 very little reflection prevented her from doing this. 
 Instead, she set out on her walk to the house. 
 
 Her thoughts jostled one another in her head in a 
 strange medley. Even without the dramatic appear- 
 ance of Loring at the inn door her overwrought brain 
 held matters sufficiently complex. But his arrival, 
 in a state of such obvious discomposure, served 
 somehow to bring a new uneasiness. What could 
 it mean? Had some new turn been given to a situa- 
 tion that still remained tense? 
 
 It was idle to speculate on such a slender premise. 
 Accordingly, with that masculine resolution that 
 never deserted her, she dismissed Loring from her 
 thoughts for the time being, and allowed her mind 
 to envisage the situation as a whole. She was suf- 
 ficiently in touch with it to know that the supreme 
 phase of the crisis was past. The leaders of 
 the three parties in common with the world at 
 large had been forced to recognize the genius 
 
 355
 
 356 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 of the man who from the beginning she had blindly 
 sustained. 
 
 As she walked up the avenue to the house her 
 mind reverted to the irony of her own position. The 
 triumph of her hero, in whose success she had borne 
 so large a part, meant total eclipse for the man 
 whose wife she was, whom she was now on the way 
 to console. 
 
 In what manner would he receive her? They 
 were still friends, as friends they had always been. 
 She enjoyed the advantages of his name and status, 
 for which as a young woman she had been unwise 
 enough to marry him. Perhaps in those far-off days 
 she had been dazzled by the glamour of the person- 
 ality they embellished. Rockingham had always 
 known how to wield a power over women. He was 
 so much the preux chevalier. The bel air was so 
 much in evidence. Few could resist a nobility of 
 bearing that was the joy and the despair of the con- 
 temporary painter. 
 
 But when they came to know their Rockingham! 
 was her comment on this glowing mirage of the fancy, 
 which even after all these years of estrangement re- 
 mained so luminously in her mind. But when they 
 came to know their Rockingham, what was it that 
 they found? They found an enigma, in one aspect 
 unbelievably shallow, in another curiously subtle 
 and deep.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 357 
 
 Still the paramount question for her was, did 
 anybody know their Rockingham? In spite of her 
 opportunities she would be the last to claim so much. 
 No, the man was an enigma to his wife, to his friends, 
 to his country, perhaps most of all to himself. 
 
 On entering the house she had to pass through the 
 spacious hall, round about whose large open fire- 
 place all the men of the house-party with one ex- 
 ception, perhaps a dozen in all, were assembled. 
 The exception was Rockingham. 
 
 As she came toward them she could hear the deep 
 confused hum of their voices. They were pitched 
 so low that she could not catch a word of what was 
 said. And the moment they saw her they all ceased 
 talking with an abruptness that was rather dramatic. 
 
 Evelyn looked from one to the other, but among 
 them there was not the man she sought. 
 
 "Can you tell me where Robert is?" she asked. 
 
 At first no one answered her. But Mr. Maul- 
 everer, who was seated in a chair some little distance 
 apart from the others, rose and said in a peculiarly 
 slow and impressive tone: "I believe Robert is in 
 his room."
 
 XXIII 
 
 I WILL go to him," said Evelyn. 
 An odd silence followed her words. There was 
 a lapse of a moment, and then Mr. Mauleverer 
 spoke again and again with his slow impressive- 
 ness. 
 
 "I don't exactly think I would do that," he said. 
 
 There was nothing in the tone to stimulate curios- 
 ity, yet the words themselves and the strange hush 
 amid which they were spoken lent them an impor- 
 tance for which it was hard to account. 
 
 "Why not?" she said. 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer repeated her question in a musing 
 tone, almost as if he would parry it. 
 
 "Yes, Evan, why not?" 
 
 Before the answer could be given, in whatever 
 it might consist, there came an interruption. The 
 sound arose of a door opening at the far end of the 
 hall. The master of the house was heard and seen 
 coming toward the group about the fireplace. He 
 was followed by two others. A glance told Evelyn 
 that one of them was Mr. Grundy and that the other 
 was he who had been chosen Prime Minister. 
 
 358
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 359 
 
 It was a moment of high infinite tension, and some- 
 how the faces of all declared it to be so. Loring 
 came first. With a woman's quick, comprehending 
 eye Evelyn saw that the bucolic Briton had been 
 merged in the anxious mediocrity who is oppres- 
 sively conscious of the fact that he is completely 
 out of his depth. 
 
 He came right into the midst of his guests with- 
 out saying a word. At a respectful distance, and 
 strangely silent also, the two statesmen followed 
 
 All who were seated rose at once. But not one 
 among them all could find a word to say. It was a 
 moment of poignant intensity in which all stood 
 awkwardly still. No one spoke or moved. And 
 then, at last, almost it seemed in desperation, the 
 spell was broken by the member for South East 
 Leeds. 
 
 As became a man unfettered by subtleties of 
 emotional experience, Mr. Ansell stepped forth sud- 
 denly from the midst of his colleagues with hand 
 outstretched. 
 
 "Draper," he said in his hearty voice, "I welcome 
 you. I am proud to be associated with you. I am 
 sure you are the right man in the right place." 
 
 Such a speech in such circumstances was only 
 possible to one wholly unfettered by delicacy. But 
 such men often serve their turn. Where a fastidious 
 feeling for the nuances kept others tongue-tied, this
 
 360 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 crude fellow was able to dispel an overpowering 
 embarrassment by drawing a surprised attention 
 upon himself. 
 
 James Draper was quick to respond. He took a 
 step forward to meet the maladroit man of com- 
 merce who had saved the situation and promptly 
 accepted the hand that was offered. 
 
 "Thank you very much, my dear Ansell," he said 
 with a simplicity so unstudied that it could hardly 
 have failed to disarm the most critical. "I am in- 
 deed proud to have you for a colleague. Gentlemen, 
 I am proud and grateful to be associated with you 
 all in the great task that lies before us." 
 
 There was something magnetic in the simple 
 speech. A second individual detached himself from 
 the group around the fireplace and took his hand. 
 
 And then followed a third, and then a fourth. 
 Thus it went on, each in turn greeting the new leader, 
 until only one was left. And he was the man who 
 by attainment and authority should have been the 
 first to step forward to bridge the gulf. 
 
 In the excitement of the moment it was hardly 
 noticed that Evan Mauleverer had withdrawn from 
 the others. Perhaps only Evelyn Rockingham was 
 a sufficiently detached observer of the scene to per- 
 ceive that the leader of the Right had seated himself 
 and had taken up a newspaper. 
 
 Doubtless it was well that she only appeared to
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 361 
 
 notice it. A thrill ran across her nerves. Could 
 it be that all was not yet won? Such an action at 
 such a moment was almost intolerably significant. 
 
 A little sickly she turned away from the scene. 
 Somehow it was more than she could endure. The 
 frank acceptance of the new Prime Minister by the 
 lesser lights still went on, but when all was said Evan 
 Mauleverer was the man who counted. He must 
 be gained, otherwise it might prove little better 
 than a Pyrrhic victory. 
 
 The spectacle of the leader of the Right's aloofness 
 started a new pain in her mind. Where was that 
 other leader? Where was Rockingham? If the 
 whole position had been yielded, ought not he to be 
 there? Was it after all to be a capitulation merely 
 in name ? 
 
 She must go and see Rockingham. A small study 
 in a distant part of the house had been placed at the 
 disposal of the great man. It was in this rather 
 remote place, not altogether easy of access from the 
 main portion of the house, that he was said to have 
 spent the night. 
 
 She made her way at once along the inner portions 
 of the historic dwelling with which she had been 
 familiar from her childhood, until at last the closed 
 door of Rockingham's room confronted her. Upon 
 trying to open it she found it was locked. She 
 tapped smartly upon it several times, but no sound
 
 362 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 came from within. She called the name of her hus- 
 band, but again there was no response. 
 
 While she stood twisting the handle of the door, 
 mentally debating what she should do next, there 
 rose a sound of slow steps approaching along the 
 corridor. The tall, dignified form of Evan Maul- 
 everer came into view. 
 
 "Robert is not here," she said. "The door is 
 locked and there appears to be no one in the room." 
 
 "Yes, he is there, Evelyn." 
 
 Suddenly she saw that the eyes of the leader of the 
 Right were wet.
 
 XXIV 
 
 MR. MAULEVERER placed his hand on her 
 shoulder, as if he would soften the blow he 
 was about to deliver. 
 
 "Robert has died by his own hand." 
 
 She accepted the stroke without a tremor. 
 
 Of the two she was by far the more composed. 
 The shock was inevitably awful, inevitably tragic. 
 But great strength of will was hers, and it never 
 failed her in a crisis. 
 
 Moreover, she had never loved Rockingham; and 
 the man who had worked and fought with him side by 
 side in a common cause had loved him very deeply. 
 
 There was a silence while they stood close together, 
 with something of the helplessness of a pair of children. 
 
 It was she who found the first words to speak. 
 
 "No, we none of us knew our Rockingham," she 
 said at last. 
 
 "He has given his life for his country," said his 
 friend, with the tears running down his face. 
 
 "Was there was there no other way out?" 
 
 "There was no other way out for a gentleman." 
 
 "And yet ? No, I suppose there was not. 
 
 363
 
 364 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 And yet a woman can't be expected to understand 
 these things." 
 
 "No, she cannot." 
 
 Again there was silence. Each was suffering 
 acutely. Again it was the woman who spoke. 
 
 "Shall we go in?" 
 
 "Do you really wish to go in?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 He seemed to realize her great strength of will. 
 Forlornly he turned on his heel. 
 
 "I will fetch the key," he said. 
 
 She watched the gaunt, haggard figure recede 
 along the dimly lighted corridor. 
 
 She felt numb. There was a curious chill in her 
 veins. But the strength of soul which carried her 
 through everything was still at her command. 
 
 It seemed an age before Evan Mauleverer returned. 
 
 He swayed to and fro as he came toward her, 
 like a man shattered in all his being. 
 
 Without an instant's delay he unlocked the door, 
 and opened it for her to pass in. 
 
 "Don't look," he said. 
 
 But she had seen already. 
 
 He was lying across the hearthrug at the far end of 
 the room, with the pistol still in his hand. 
 
 Again there was silence while she peered with calm 
 eyes at the haggard face of the man of wisdom and 
 mastery who had loved Rockingham.
 
 CUTTING THE KNOT 365 
 
 "Will history speak of him?" she said. 
 
 Mr. Mauleverer shook his head mournfully. 
 
 "I fear not. The world knows nothing of its 
 greatest." 
 
 "You think he is numbered among them?" 
 
 "Yes, in his death." 
 
 "He died to save England?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The leader of the Right was weeping like a 
 child. 
 
 Suddenly she placed a hand on his sleeve. 
 
 "Evan," she said softly, " we must see to it that 
 he has not died in vain." 
 
 "I don't understand you, Evelyn." 
 
 In that presence, with the awful shock still upon 
 them, it was not the moment for thought to leap to 
 thought. But now that she had realized the nature 
 of the sacrifice, she could not endure that its fruits 
 should be lost. 
 
 Almost as if at the beck of the train of thought 
 that was stirring in her mind her eyes strayed to the 
 writing-table with its litter of papers and books. 
 And there in a conspicuous place was a letter ad- 
 dressed in Rockingham's charcteristic hand to the 
 chief among his friends. 
 
 She took it from the table and gave it to him. 
 
 He fingered it irresolutely. 
 
 "Read," she said.
 
 366 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 A prophetic sense seemed to enthrall her. 
 He broke the seal, read the letter, and then handed 
 it to her. 
 
 She read the following : 
 
 MONDAY MORNING, EIGHT O'CLOCK. 
 
 MY DEAR EVAN: You and I know that this 
 thing has been played up far too high. We have 
 fought a losing battle with our backs to the wall, and 
 in death I say to you our weapons have not been 
 clean. Do not think I have remorse. We have 
 fought for a great stake against great odds, and we 
 were not in a position to be delicate. 
 
 The decision you have reached is the only one 
 possible in the circumstances. There is no disloy- 
 alty; I recognize that any other decision would have 
 been disloyal to the Throne. Trust Draper. He is an 
 honest man, and if you all stand by him he will save 
 the country. 
 
 Good-bye, my dear Evan. Yours in eternity, 
 
 ROCKINGHAM. 
 
 She handed back the letter. He stood dumb and 
 tense, his eyes half closed. Not a word was spoken. 
 The presence of the dead held them in thrall. 
 
 Yet again it was she who broke the silence. 
 
 "Now do you not see my meaning?" 
 
 He did not answer her. 
 
 "Will you remain in this room for a few moments?" 
 
 He inclined his head slightly but did not speak. 
 She went out of the room, charged with sudden resolve.
 
 XXV 
 
 IN a very little while she had returned to the 
 room. 
 
 She was accompanied by him who three hours ago 
 had been chosen Prime Minister. It was plain to 
 tell by his face that he was fully cognizant of what 
 had occurred. He entered the room with his usual 
 straightforward air, but in every line was the in- 
 stinctive good breeding that springs from the heart. 
 
 With Rockingham's letter still in his hand, Mr. 
 Mauleverer received Mr. Draper with his stateliest 
 bow. The bow was returned with equal ceremony. 
 
 "Mr. Draper," said the leader of the Right, "the 
 duke has expressed a desire that I should enter your 
 Cabinet." 
 
 The Prime Minister bowed again. 
 
 "I am prepared to respect his wishes," said Mr. 
 Mauleverer. 
 
 "I can only say, sir," said Mr. Draper, "that by 
 respecting the duke's wishes you will lay the country 
 under a signal obligation." 
 
 "Upon that I am not altogether clear," said the 
 leader of the Right. "But I feel that the country 
 
 367
 
 368 AN AFFAIR OF STATE 
 
 owes him so much, that as far as I am concerned 
 personally I regard the least of his wishes in the 
 light of a command." 
 
 "I rejoice, sir, that such is the case," said the 
 Prime Minister. "Your decision will enormously 
 strengthen his Majesty's Government. I at least 
 am deeply grateful, and I am sure my colleagues 
 will be no less so." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Draper," said the leader of the 
 Right. Even he, apparently, was touched by the 
 warmth and sincerity that breathed through the 
 words. 
 
 "And perhaps, sir," said the Prime Minister, "it 
 would not be improper at such a moment, and in 
 the presence of him who is noble in his death, to re- 
 cord my own feeling about him. He was the bitter- 
 est of my adversaries, but I would say to you, sir, 
 the first among his friends, that no man can realize 
 more fully than I do that he is glorious in his death. 
 He died to save England, and no nobler requiem can 
 be claimed by any of her sons. 
 
 THE END 
 
 THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000818633 o