The New Member for Silverbridge
Lord Silverbridge was informed that it would be right that he should
go down to Silverbridge a few days before the election, to make
himself known to the electors. As the day for the election drew
near it was understood that there would be no other candidate.
The Conservative side was the popular side among the tradesmen of
Silverbridge. Silverbridge had been proud to be honoured by the
services of the heir of the house of Omnium, even while that heir had
been a Liberal,--had regarded it as so much a matter of course that
the borough should be at his disposal that no question as to politics
had ever arisen while he retained the seat. And had the Duke chosen
to continue to send them Liberals, one after another, when he went
into the House of Lords, there would have been no question as to the
fitness of the man or men so sent. Silverbridge had been supposed
to be a Liberal as a matter of course,--because the Pallisers were
Liberals. But when the matter was remitted to themselves,--when the
Duke declared that he would not interfere any more, for it was thus
that the borough had obtained its freedom,--then the borough began to
feel Conservative predilections. "If his Grace really does mean us to
do just what we please ourselves, which is a thing we never thought
of asking from his Grace, then we find, having turned the matter over
among ourselves, that we are upon the whole Conservative." In this
spirit the borough had elected a certain Mr. Fletcher; but in doing
so the borough had still a shade of fear that it would offend the
Duke. The house of Palliser, Gatherum Castle, the Duke of Omnium,
and this special Duke himself, were all so great in the eyes of
the borough, that the first and only strong feeling in the borough
was the one of duty. The borough did not altogether enjoy being
enfranchised. But when the Duke had spoken once, twice, and thrice,
then with a hesitating heart the borough returned Mr. Fletcher. Now
Mr. Fletcher was wanted elsewhere, having been persuaded to stand
for the county, and it was a comfort to the borough that it could
resettle itself beneath the warmth of the wings of the Pallisers.
So the matter stood when Lord Silverbridge was told that his presence
in the borough for a few hours would be taken as a compliment.
Hitherto no one knew him at Silverbridge. During his boyhood he had
not been much at Gatherum Castle, and had done his best to eschew the
place since he had ceased to be a boy. All the Pallisers took a pride
in Gatherum Castle, but they all disliked it. "Oh yes; I'll go down,"
he said to Mr. Morton, who was up in town. "I needn't go to the great
barrack I suppose." The great barrack was the Castle. "I'll put up at
the Inn." Mr. Morton begged the heir to come to his own house; but
Silverbridge declared that he would prefer the Inn, and so the matter
was settled. He was to meet sundry politicians,--Mr. Sprugeon and Mr.
Sprout and Mr. Du Boung,--who would like to be thanked for what they
had done. But who was to go with him? He would naturally have asked
Tregear, but from Tregear he had for the last week or two been, not
perhaps estranged, but separated. He had been much taken up with
racing. He had gone down to Chester with Major Tifto, and under the
Major's auspicious influences had won a little money;--and now he
was very anxiously preparing himself for the Newmarket Second
Spring Meeting. He had therefore passed much of his time with Major
Tifto. And when this visit to Silverbridge was pressed on him he
thoughtlessly asked Tifto to go with him. Tifto was delighted. Lord
Silverbridge was to be met at Silverbridge by various well-known
politicians from the neighbourhood, and Major Tifto was greatly
elated by the prospect of such an introduction into the political
world.
But no sooner had the offer been made by Lord Silverbridge than
he saw his own indiscretion. Tifto was very well for Chester or
Newmarket, very well perhaps for the Beargarden, but not very well
for an electioneering expedition. An idea came to the young nobleman
that if it should be his fate to represent Silverbridge in Parliament
for the next twenty years, it would be well that Silverbridge should
entertain respecting him some exalted estimation,--that Silverbridge
should be taught to regard him as a fit son of his father and a
worthy specimen of the British political nobility. Struck by serious
reflections of this nature he did open his mind to Tregear. "I am
very fond of Tifto," he said, "but I don't know whether he's just the
sort of fellow to take down to an election."
"I should think not," said Tregear very decidedly.
"He's a very good fellow, you know," said Silverbridge. "I don't know
an honester man than Tifto anywhere."
"I dare say. Or rather, I don't dare say. I know nothing about the
Major's honesty, and I doubt whether you do. He rides very well."
"What has that to do with it?"
"Nothing on earth. Therefore I advise you not to take him to
Silverbridge."
"You needn't preach."
"You may call it what you like. Tifto would not hold his tongue,
and there is nothing he could say there which would not be to your
prejudice."
"Will you go?"
"If you wish it," said Tregear.
"What will the governor say?"
"That must be your look-out. In a political point of view I
shall not disgrace you. I shall hold my tongue and look like a
gentleman,--neither of which is in Tifto's power."
And so it was settled, that on the day but one after this
conversation Lord Silverbridge and Tregear should go together to
Silverbridge. But the Major, when on the same night his noble
friend's altered plans were explained to him, did not bear the
disappointment with equanimity. "Isn't that a little strange?" he
said, becoming very red in the face.
"What do you call strange?" said the Lord.
"Well;--I'd made all my arrangements. When a man has been asked to do
a thing like that, he doesn't like to be put off."
"The truth is, Tifto, when I came to think of it, I saw that, going
down to these fellows about Parliament and all that sort of thing, I
ought to have a political atmosphere, and not a racing or a betting
or a hunting atmosphere."
"There isn't a man in London who cares more about politics than I
do;--and not very many perhaps who understand them better. To tell
you the truth, my Lord, I think you are throwing me over."
"I'll make it up to you," said Silverbridge, meaning to be kind.
"I'll go down to Newmarket with you and stick to you like wax."
"No doubt you'll do that," said Tifto, who, like a fool, failed to
see where his advantage lay. "I can be useful at Newmarket, and so
you'll stick to me."
"Look here, Major Tifto," said Silverbridge; "if you are
dissatisfied, you and I can easily separate ourselves."
"I am not dissatisfied," said the little man, almost crying.
"Then don't talk as though you were. As to Silverbridge, I shall
not want you there. When I asked you I was only thinking what would
be pleasant to both of us; but since that I have remembered that
business must be business." Even this did not reconcile the angry
little man, who as he turned away declared within his own little
bosom that he would "take it out of Silverbridge for that."
Lord Silverbridge and Tregear went down to the borough together, and
on the journey something was said about Lady Mary,--and something
also about Lady Mabel. "From the first, you know," said Lady Mary's
brother, "I never thought it would answer."
"Why not answer?"
"Because I knew the governor would not have it. Money and rank and
those sort of things are not particularly charming to me. But still
things should go together. It is all very well for you and me to
be pals, but of course it will be expected that Mary should marry
some--"
"Some swell?"
"Some swell, if you will have it."
"You mean to call yourself a swell?"
"Yes I do," said Silverbridge, with considerable resolution. "You
ought not to make yourself disagreeable, because you understand all
about it as well as anybody. Chance has made me the eldest son of a
Duke and heir to an enormous fortune. Chance has made my sister the
daughter of a Duke, and an heiress also. My intimacy with you ought
to be proof at any rate to you that I don't on that account set
myself up above other fellows. But when you come to talk of marriage,
of course it is a serious thing."
"But you have told me more than once that you have no objection on
your own score."
"Nor have I."
"You are only saying what the Duke will think."
"I am telling you that it is impossible, and I told you so before.
You and she will be kept apart, and so--"
"And so she'll forget me."
"Something of that kind."
"Of course I have to trust to her for that. If she forgets me, well
and good."
"She needn't forget you. Lord bless me! you talk as though the thing
were not done every day. You'll hear some morning that she is going
to marry some fellow who has a lot of money and a good position; and
what difference will it make then whether she has forgotten you or
not?" It might almost have been supposed that the young man had been
acquainted with his mother's history.
After this there was a pause, and there arose conversation about
other things, and a cigar was smoked. Then Tregear returned once more
to the subject. "There is one thing I wish to say about it all."
"What is that?"
"I want you to understand that nothing else will turn me away from my
intention but such a marriage on her part as that of which you speak.
Nothing that your father can do will turn me."
"She can't marry without his leave."
"Perhaps not."
"That he'll never give,--and I don't suppose you look forward to
waiting till his death."
"If he sees that her happiness really depends on it he will give his
leave. It all depends on that. If I judge your father rightly, he's
just as soft-hearted as other people. The man who holds out is not
the man of the firmest opinion, but the man of the hardest heart."
"Somebody will talk Mary over."
"If so, the thing is over. It all depends on her." Then he went on to
tell his friend that he had spoken of his engagement to Lady Mabel.
"I have mentioned it to no soul but to your father and to her."
"Why to her?"
"Because we were friends together as children. I never had a sister,
but she has been more like a sister to me than any one else. Do you
object to her knowing it?"
"Not particularly. It seems to me now that everybody knows
everything. There are no longer any secrets."
"But she is a special friend."
"Of yours," said Silverbridge.
"And of yours," said Tregear.
"Well, yes;--in a sort of way. She is the jolliest girl I know."
"Take her all round, for beauty, intellect, good sense, and fun at
the same time, I don't know any one equal to her."
"It's a pity you didn't fall in love with her."
"We knew each other too early for that. And then she has not a
shilling. I should think myself dishonest if I did not tell you that
I could not afford to love any girl who hadn't money. A man must
live,--and a woman too."
At the station they were met by Mr. Sprugeon and Mr. Sprout, who,
with many apologies for the meanness of such entertainment, took them
up to the George and Vulture, which was supposed for the nonce to be
the Conservative hotel in the town. Here they were met by other men
of importance in the borough, and among them by Mr. Du Boung. Now Mr.
Sprout and Mr. Sprugeon were Conservatives, but Mr. Du Boung was a
strong Liberal.
"We are, all of us, particularly glad to see your Lordship among us,"
said Mr. Du Boung.
"I have told his Lordship how perfectly satisfied you are to see the
borough in his Lordship's hands," said Mr. Sprugeon.
"I am sure it could not be in better," said Mr. Du Boung. "For myself
I am quite willing to postpone any peculiar shade of politics to the
advantage of having your father's son as our representative."
This Mr. Du Boung said with much intention of imparting both grace
and dignity to the occasion. He thought that he was doing a great
thing for the house of Omnium, and that the house of Omnium ought to
know it.
"That's very kind of you," said Lord Silverbridge, who had not read
as carefully as he should have done the letters which had been sent
to him, and did not therefore quite understand the position.
"Mr. Du Boung had intended to stand himself," said Mr. Sprout.
"But retired in your Lordship's favour," said Mr. Sprugeon.
"In doing which I considered that I studied the interest of the
borough," said Mr. Du Boung.
"I thought you gave it up because there was hardly a footing for a
Liberal," said his Lordship, very imprudently.
"The borough was always Liberal till the last election," said Mr. Du
Boung, drawing himself up.
"The borough wishes on this occasion to be magnanimous," said
Mr. Sprout, probably having on his mind some confusion between
magnanimity and unanimity.
"As your Lordship is coming among us, the borough is anxious to sink
politics altogether for the moment," said Mr. Sprugeon. There had no
doubt been a compact between the Sprugeon and Sprout party and the Du
Boung party in accordance with which it had been arranged that Mr. Du
Boung should be entitled to a certain amount of glorification in the
presence of Lord Silverbridge.
"And it was in compliance with that wish on the part of the borough,
my Lord," said Mr. Du Boung,--"as to which my own feelings were quite
as strong as that of any other gentleman in the borough,--that I
conceived it to be my duty to give way."
"His Lordship is quite aware how much he owes to Mr. Du Boung," said
Tregear. Whereupon Lord Silverbridge bowed.
"And now what are we to do?" said Lord Silverbridge.
Then there was a little whispering between Mr. Sprout and Mr.
Sprugeon. "Perhaps, Mr. Du Boung," said Sprugeon, "his Lordship had
better call first on Dr. Tempest."
"Perhaps," said the injured brewer, "as it is to be a party affair
after all I had better retire from the scene."
"I thought all that was to be given up," said Tregear.
"Oh, certainly," said Sprout. "Suppose we go to Mr. Walker first?"
"I'm up to anything," said Lord Silverbridge; "but of course
everybody understands that I am a Conservative."
"Oh dear, yes," said Sprugeon.
"We are all aware of that," said Sprout.
"And very glad we've all of us been to hear it," said the landlord.
"Though there are some in the borough who could have wished, my Lord,
that you had stuck to the old Palliser politics," said Mr. Du Boung.
"But I haven't stuck to the Palliser politics. Just at present I
think that order and all that sort of thing should be maintained."
"Hear, hear!" said the landlord.
"And now, as I have expressed my views generally, I am willing to go
anywhere."
"Then we'll go to Mr. Walker first," said Sprugeon. Now it was
understood that in the borough, among those who really had opinions
of their own, Mr. Walker the old attorney stood first as a Liberal,
and Dr. Tempest the old rector first as a Conservative.
"I am glad to see your Lordship in the town which gives you
its name," said Mr. Walker, who was a hale old gentleman with
silvery-white hair, over seventy years of age. "I proposed your
father for this borough on, I think, six or seven different
occasions. They used to go in and out then whenever they changed
their offices."
"We hope you'll propose Lord Silverbridge now," said Mr. Sprugeon.
"Oh; well;--yes. He's his father's son, and I never knew anything but
good of the family. I wish you were going to sit on the same side, my
Lord."
"Times are changed a little, perhaps," said his Lordship.
"The matter is not to be discussed now," said the old attorney. "I
understand that. Only I hope you'll excuse me if I say that a man
ought to get up very early in the morning if he means to see further
into politics than your father."
"Very early indeed," said Mr. Du Boung, shaking his head.
"That's all right," said Lord Silverbridge.
"I'll propose you, my Lord. I need not wish you success, because
there is no one to stand against you."
Then they went to Dr. Tempest, who was also an old man. "Yes,
my Lord, I shall be proud to second you," said the rector. "I
didn't think that I should ever do that to one of your name in
Silverbridge."
"I hope you think I've made a change for the better," said the
candidate.
"You've come over to my school of course, and I suppose I am bound
to think that a change for the better. Nevertheless I have a kind of
idea that certain people ought to be Tories and that other certain
people ought to be Whigs. What does your father say about it?"
"My father wishes me to be in the House, and that he has not
quarrelled with me you may know by the fact that had there been a
contest he would have paid my expenses."
"A father generally has to do that whether he approves of what his
son is about or not," said the caustic old gentleman.
There was nothing else to be done. They all went back to the hotel,
and Mr. Sprugeon with Mr. Sprout and the landlord drank a glass of
sherry at the candidate's expense, wishing him political long life
and prosperity. There was no one else whom it was thought necessary
that the candidate should visit, and the next day he returned to town
with the understanding that on the day appointed in the next week he
should come back again to be elected.
And on the day appointed the two young men again went to
Silverbridge, and after he had been declared duly elected, the new
Member of Parliament made his first speech. There was a meeting in
the town-hall and many were assembled anxious to hear,--not the lad's
opinions, for which probably nobody cared much,--but the tone of his
voice and to see his manner. Of what sort was the eldest son of the
man of whom the neighbourhood had been so proud? For the county was
in truth proud of their Duke. Of this son whom they had now made a
Member of Parliament they at present only knew that he had been sent
away from Oxford,--not so very long ago,--for painting the Dean's
house scarlet. The speech was not very brilliant. He told them
that he was very much obliged to them for the honour they had done
him. Though he could not follow exactly his father's political
opinions,--he would always have before his eyes his father's
political honesty and independence. He broke down two or three times
and blushed, and repeated himself, and knocked his words a great deal
too quickly one on the top of another. But it was taken very well,
and was better than was expected. When it was over he wrote a line to
the Duke.
MY DEAR FATHER,
I am Member of Parliament for Silverbridge,--as you used
to be in the days which I can first remember. I hope you
won't think that it does not make me unhappy to have
differed from you. Indeed it does. I don't think that
anybody has ever done so well in politics as you have.
But when a man does take up an opinion I don't see how
he can help himself. Of course I could have kept myself
quiet;--but then you wished me to be in the House. They
were all very civil to me at Silverbridge, but there was
very little said.
Your affectionate Son,
SILVERBRIDGE.