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understanding of people.  I am coming to think more and more
that political fighting is only a good understanding of human na-
ture and the sense to keep your mouth closed when speaking would
not help. Tell no lies in which you will be caught, and never ever
lose your temper or promise something you may be seen not to have
given.
He smiled, but there was no pleasure in it at all.  I wish you had
told Aubrey that a couple of days ago.
 Do you think it will really make a difference? She was cling-
ing on to hope.  That is the Times, isn t it? Yes. How many of the
voters in Lambeth South will read it, do you suppose?
 I don t know, but I ll wager you anything you like that Charles
Voisey will! he responded.
She thought for a moment of making the wager and asking for a
new parasol if she won, then realized how futile it was. Of course
Voisey would see it and use it.
 Aubrey talks about the military as if the generals were fools,
Jack went on with a note of despair in his voice.  Heaven knows
we ve had enough of them who were, but planning the tactics
of battle is harder than you think. You can have clever enemies,
inadequate arms, supply lines cut, a change in the weather! Or just
plain bad luck. When Napoleon got a new marshal he didn t ask if
he was clever, he asked if he was lucky!
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SOUTHAMPTON ROW
 What did Wellington ask? she returned.
 I don t know, he admitted, rising to his feet.  But he wouldn t
have had Aubrey. This is not dishonesty or even bad politics at
heart, but it is the most appalling tactic against a man like Charles
Voisey!
Emily went with Jack to listen to Voisey speak to a large crowd in
the early afternoon. It was in Kennington, and the park was full of
people walking in the hot sun, eating ice creams and peppermint
sticks and toffee apples, drinking lemonade, and eager for a little
heckling and entertainment. To begin with, nobody cared greatly
what Voisey had come to say. It was a good way to spend an hour or
so, and far more interesting than the halfhearted game of cricket a
score of boys were playing at the farther end. If he wanted their at-
tention he would have to say something to amuse them, and if he
did not know that now, he would soon learn.
Of course, only some of the listeners had the right to vote, but
everyone s future was affected, so they crowded around the empty
bandstand Voisey climbed onto with supreme confidence and be-
gan to talk to them.
Emily stood in the sun with her hat shading her face, looking
first at the crowd, then at Voisey, then sideways at Jack. She was
not really listening to the words. She knew it was about patriotism
and pride. It was very subtle, but he was praising them in a very
general sense, making them feel part of the accomplishment of Em-
pire, although he never gave it that name. She watched as they
stood a little straighter, unconsciously smiling, shoulders squared
and chins a trifle higher. He was making them feel as if they be-
longed, they were part of the victory, among the elite.
She looked at Jack and saw the corners of his mouth pinch. His
face was tight with dislike, but there was admiration in him also, no
matter how reluctant; he could not hold it back.
Voisey went on. He never mentioned Serracold s name. Serra-
cold might not have existed. Voisey did not put the choice before
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ANNE PERRY
them: vote for me or for the other candidate, vote Tory or Liberal;
he just spoke to them as if the decision had already been made. They
were of one mind because they were of one race, one people, one
shared destiny.
Of course that would not persuade everyone. She saw stubborn-
ness in the set of many faces, disagreement, anger, indifference. But
then he did not need all of them, only enough to make a majority,
along with those who were natural Tory voters anyway.
 He s winning, isn t he? she said quietly, searching Jack s face
and seeing the answer in his expression. He was angry, helpless, frus-
trated, and yet acutely aware that if he spoke to defend Aubrey Ser-
racold as he wished to, he would achieve nothing but demonstrate
the loyalty of a friend, and he would jeopardize his own seat. Noth-
ing was as certain as he had imagined it to be only a week ago.
She watched him as Voisey went on and the crowd listened.
They were with him now, but she knew what a fickle thing popu-
larity was. Give people laughter, praise, hope of benefit, a shared
belief, and they were yours. A breath of fear, a perceived insult,
even boredom, and they were lost again.
What would Jack do?
Part of her wanted him to honor friendship, say what he could
to right the inequity between Aubrey and this man who was ma-
nipulating the situation with such skill. Aubrey s letter to the editor
had played right into Voisey s hands. Why had Aubrey been so fool-
ish? She felt a sinking weight inside her as the answer came unbid-
den to her mind. Because he was idealistic but naive. He was a good
man with an honest dream, but he was no politician yet, and cir-
cumstances would give him no time to become one. There were no
rehearsals, only reality.
She looked at Jack again, and saw the indecision still in him.
She said nothing. She was not yet ready for the answer, whatever it
was. He was right, there were some prices that were very high to
pay for power. And yet without power one could achieve little, per-
haps nothing. Battles were costly; that was the nature of fighting for
any principle, any victory at all. And if you retreated from the
211
SOUTHAMPTON ROW
struggle because it hurt, then the prize went to someone else, some-
one like Voisey. And what was the price of that? If good men did
not take up the sword, literal and figurative, then the victory would
go to whoever would. Where did the right lie?
If it were easy to see, maybe more people would find it, and
fewer be beguiled along the way.
She moved a step closer to Jack and linked her arm in his. Then
he turned to her, but she did not meet his eyes.
There was a reception that evening which Emily had considered
earlier would promise a certain enjoyment. It was less formal than a
dinner and offered much more opportunity to speak with a greater
variety of people of one s choice, simply because one was not seated
around a table. As usual at such events there would be some form of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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