Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot
CHAPTER XVII.
It is a good and soothfast saw; Half-roasted never will be raw; No dough is dried once more to meal, No crock new-shapen by the wheel; You can't turn curds to milk again, Nor Now, by wishing, back to Then; And having tasted stolen honey, You can't buy innocence for money.
Jermyn was not particularly pleased that some chance had apparentlyhindered Harold Transome from making other canvassing visits immediatelyafter leaving Mr. Lyon, and so had sent him back to the office earlierthan he had been expected to come. The inconvenient chance he guessed atonce to be represented by Felix Holt, whom he knew very well by Trebianreport to be a young man with so little of the ordinary Christianmotives as to making an appearance and getting on in the world, that hepresented no handle to any judicious and respectable person who might bewilling to make use of him.
Harold Transome, on his side, was a great deal annoyed at being worriedby Felix in an enquiry about electioneering details. The real dignityand honesty there was in him made him shrink from this necessity ofsatisfying a man with a troublesome tongue; it was as if he were to showindignation at the discovery of one barrel with a false bottom, when hehad invested his money in a manufactory where a larger or smallernumber of such barrels had always been made. A practical man must seek agood end by the only possible means; that is to say, if he is to getinto Parliament he must not be too particular. It was not disgraceful tobe neither a Quixote nor a theorist, aiming to correct the moral rulesof the world: but whatever actually was, or might prove to be,disgraceful, Harold held in detestation. In this mood he pushed onunceremoniously to the inner office without waiting to ask questions;and when he perceived that Jermyn was not alone he said, with haughtyquickness--
"A question about the electioneering at Sproxton. Can you give yourattention to it at once? Here is Mr. Holt, who has come to me about thebusiness."
"A--yes--a--certainly," said Jermyn, who, as usual, was the more cooland deliberate because he was vexed. He was standing, and, as he turnedround, his broad figure concealed the person who was seated writing atthe bureau. "Mr. Holt--a--will doubtless--a--make a point of saving abusy man's time. You can speak at once. This gentleman"--here Jermynmade a slight backward movement of the head--"is one of ourselves; he isa true-blue."
"I have simply to complain," said Felix, "that one of your agents hasbeen sent on a bribing expedition to Sproxton--with what purpose you,sir, may know better than I do. Mr. Transome, it appears, was ignorantof the affair, and does not approve it."
Jermyn, looking gravely and steadily at Felix while he was speaking, atthe same time drew forth a small sheaf of papers from his side pocket,and then, as he turned his eyes slowly on Harold, felt in hiswaistcoat-pocket for his pencil-case.
"I don't approve of it at all," said Harold, who hated Jermyn'scalculated slowness and conceit in his own impenetrability. "Be goodenough to put a stop to it, will you?"
"Mr. Holt, I know, is an excellent Liberal," said Jermyn, just inclininghis head to Harold, and then alternately looking at Felix and docketinghis bills; "but he is perhaps too inexperienced to be aware that nocanvass--a--can be conducted without the action of able men, whomust--a--be trusted, and not interfered with. And as to any possibilityof promising to put a stop--a--to any procedure--a--that depends. If hehad ever held the coachman's ribbons in his hands, as I have in myyounger days--a--he would know that stopping is not always easy."
"I know very little about holding ribbons," said Felix; "but I sawclearly enough at once that more mischief had been done than could bewell mended. Though I believe, if it were heartily tried, the treatmentmight be reduced and something might be done to hinder the men fromturning out in a body to make a noise, which might end in worse."
"They might be hindered from making a noise on our side," said Jermyn,smiling. "That is perfectly true. But if they made a noise on theother--would your purpose be answered better, sir?"
Harold was moving about in an irritated manner while Felix and Jermynwere speaking. He preferred leaving the talk to the attorney, of whosetalk he himself liked to keep as clear as possible.
"I can only say," answered Felix, "that if you make use of those heavyfellows when the drink is in them, I shouldn't like your responsibility.You might as well drive bulls to roar on our side as bribe a set ofcolliers and navvies to shout and groan."
"A lawyer may well envy your command of language, Mr. Holt," saidJermyn, pocketing his bills again, and shutting up his pencil; "but hewould not be satisfied with the accuracy--a--of your terms. You mustpermit me to check your use of the word 'bribery.' The essence ofbribery is, that it should be legally proved; there is not such athing--a--_in rerum natura_--a--as unproved bribery. There has been nosuch thing as bribery at Sproxton, I'll answer for it. The presence of abody of stalwart fellows on--a--the Liberal side will tend to preserveorder; for we know that the benefit clubs from the Pitchley districtwill show for Debarry. Indeed, the gentleman who has conducted thecanvass at Sproxton is experienced in Parliamentary affairs, and wouldnot exceed--a--the necessary measures that a rational judgment woulddictate."
"What! you mean the man who calls himself Johnson?" said Felix, in atone of disgust.
Before Jermyn chose to answer, Harold broke in, saying, quickly andperemptorily, "The long and short of it is this, Mr. Holt: I shalldesire and insist that whatever can be done by way of remedy shall bedone. Will that satisfy you? You see now some of the candidate'sdifficulties?" said Harold, breaking into his most agreeable smile. "Ihope you will have some pity for me."
"I suppose I must be content," said Felix, not thoroughly propitiated."I bid you good-morning, gentlemen."
When he was gone out, and had closed the door behind him, Harold,turning round and flashing, in spite of himself, an angry look atJermyn, said--
"And who is Johnson? an _alias_, I suppose. It seems you are fond of thename."
Jermyn turned perceptibly paler, but disagreeables of this sort betweenhimself and Harold had been too much in his anticipations of late forhim to be taken by surprise. He turned quietly round and just touchedthe shoulder of the person seated at the bureau, who now rose.
"On the contrary," Jermyn answered, "the Johnson in question is thisgentleman, whom I have the pleasure of introducing to you as one of mymost active helpmates in electioneering business--Mr. Johnson, ofBedford Row, London. I am comparatively a novice--a--in these matters.But he was engaged with James Putty in two hardly-contested elections,and there could scarcely be a better initiation. Putty is one of thefirst men of the country as an agent--a--on the Liberal side--a--eh,Johnson? I think Makepiece is--a--not altogether a match for him, notquite of the same calibre--a--_haud consimili ingenio_--a--intactics--a--and in experience?"
"Makepiece is a wonderful man, and so is Putty," said the glib Johnson,too vain not to be pleased with an opportunity of speaking, even whenthe situation was rather awkward. "Makepiece for scheming, but Putty formanagement. Putty knows men, sir," he went on, turning to Harold: "it'sa thousand pities that you have not had his talents employed in yourservice. He's beyond any man for saving a candidate's money--does halfthe work with his tongue. He'll talk of anything, from the Areopagus,and that sort of thing, down to the joke about 'Where are you going,Paddy?'--you know what I mean, sir! 'Back again, says Paddy'--anexcellent electioneering joke. Putty understands these things. He hassaid to me, 'Johnson, bear in mind there are two ways of speaking anaudience will always like: one is to tell them what they don'tunderstand; and the other is, to tell them what they're used to.' Ishall never be the man to deny that I owe a great deal to Putty. Ialways say it was a most providential thing in the Mugham election lastyear that Putty was not on the Tory side. He managed the women; and, ifyou'll believe me, sir, one-fourth of the men would never have voted iftheir wives hadn't driven them to it for the good of their families. Andas for speaking--it's currently reported in our London circles thatPutty writes regularly for the _Times_. He has that kind of language;and I needn't tell you, M
It had been impossible to interrupt Johnson before, without the mostimpolitic rudeness. Jermyn was not sorry that he should talk, even if hemade a fool of himself; for in that solid shape, exhibiting the averageamount of human foibles, he seemed less of the _alias_ which Harold hadinsinuated him to be, and had all the additional plausibility of a liewith a circumstance.
Harold had thrown himself with contemptuous resignation into a chair,had drawn off one of his buff gloves, and was looking at his hand. Butwhen Johnson gave his iteration with a slightly slackened pace, Haroldlooked up at him and broke in--
"Well then, Mr. Johnson, I shall be glad if you will use your care andjudgment in putting an end, as well as you can, to this Sproxton affair;else it may turn out an ugly business."
"Excuse me, sir; I must beg you to look at the matter a little moreclosely. You will see that it is impossible to take a single stepbackward at Sproxton. It was a matter of necessity to get the Sproxtonmen; else I know to a certainty the other side would have laid hold ofthem first, and now I've undermined Garstin's people. They'll use theirauthority, and give a little shabby treating, but I've taken all thewind out of their sails. But if, by your orders, I or Mr. Jermyn herewere to break promise with the honest fellows, and offend Chubb thepublican, what would come of it? Chubb would leave no stone unturnedagainst you, sir; he would egg on his customers against you; thecolliers and navvies would be at the nomination and the election all thesame, or rather not all the same, for they would be there against us;and instead of hustling people good-humoredly by way of a joke, andcounterbalancing Debarry's cheers, they'd help to kick the cheering andvoting out of our men, and instead of being, let us say, half-a-dozenahead of Garstin, you'd be half-a-dozen behind him, that's all. I speakplain English to you, Mr. Transome, though I've the highest respect foryou as a gentleman of first-rate talents and position. But, sir, tojudge of these things a man must know the English voter and the Englishpublican; and it would be a poor tale indeed"--here Mr. Johnson's mouthtook an expression at once bitter and pathetic--"that a gentleman likeyou, to say nothing of the good of the country, should have gone to theexpense and trouble of a canvass for nothing but to find himself out ofParliament at the end of it. I've seen it again and again; it looks badin the cleverest man to have to sing small."
Mr. Johnson's argument was not the less stringent because his idiomswere vulgar. It requires a conviction and resolution amounting toheroism not to wince at phrases that class our foreshadowed enduranceamong those common and ignominious troubles which the world is morelikely to sneer at than to pity. Harold remained a few minutes in angrysilence looking at the floor, with one hand on his knee and the other onhis hat, as if he were preparing to start up.
"As to undoing anything that's been done down there," said Johnson,throwing in this observation as something into the bargain, "I must washmy hands of it, sir. I couldn't work knowingly against your interest.And that young man who is just gone out,--you don't believe that he needbe listened to, I hope? Chubb, the publican, hates him. Chubb wouldguess he was at the bottom of your having the treating stopped, and he'dset half-a-dozen of the colliers to duck him in the canal, or break hishead by mistake. I'm an experienced man, sir. I hope I've put it clearenough."
"Certainly, the exposition befits the subject," said Harold, scornfully,his dislike of the man Johnson's personality being stimulated by causeswhich Jermyn more than conjectured. "It's a damned, unpleasant, ravelledbusiness that you and Mr. Jermyn have knit up between you. I've no moreto say."
"Then, sir, if you've no more commands, I don't wish to intrude. I shallwish you good-morning, sir," said Johnson, passing out quickly.
Harold knew that he was indulging his temper, and he would probably haverestrained it as a foolish move if he had thought there was great dangerin it. But he was beginning to drop much of his caution and self-masterywhere Jermyn was concerned, under the growing conviction that theattorney had very strong reasons for being afraid of him; reasons whichwould only be reinforced by any action hostile to the Transome interest.As for a sneak like this Johnson, a gentleman had to pay him, not toplease him. Harold had smiles at command in the right place, but he wasnot going to smile when it was neither necessary nor agreeable. He wasone of those good-humored, yet energetic men, who have the gift ofanger, hatred, and scorn upon occasion, though they are too healthy andself-contented for such feelings to get generated in them withoutexternal occasion. And in relation to Jermyn the gift was coming intofine exercise.
"A--pardon me, Mr. Harold," said Jermyn, speaking as soon as Johnsonwent out, "but I am sorry--a--you should behave disobligingly to a manwho has it in his power to do much service--who, in fact, holds manythreads in his hands. I admit that--a--_nemo mortalium omnibus horissapit_, as we say--a----"
"Speak for yourself," said Harold. "I don't talk in tags of Latin, whichmight be learned by a school-master's foot-boy. I find the King'sEnglish expresses my meaning better."
"In the King's English, then," said Jermyn, who could be idiomaticenough when he was stung, "a candidate should keep his kicks till he's amember."
"Oh, I suppose Johnson will bear a kick if you bid him. You're hisprincipal, I believe."
"Certainly, thus far--a--he is my London agent. But he is a man ofsubstance, and----"
"I shall know what he is if it's necessary, I dare say. But I must jumpinto the carriage again. I've no time to lose; I must go to Hawkins atthe factory. Will you go?"
When Harold was gone, Jermyn's handsome face gathered blackness. Hehardly ever wore his worst expression in the presence of others, and butseldom when he was alone, for he was not given to believe that any gamewould ultimately go against him. His luck had been good. New conditionsmight always turn up to give him new chances; and if affairs threatenedto come to an extremity between Harold and himself, he trusted tofinding some sure resource.
"He means to see to the bottom of everything if he can, that's quiteplain," said Jermyn to himself. "I believe he has been getting anotheropinion he has some new light about those annuities on the estate thatare held in Johnson's name. He has inherited a deuced faculty forbusiness--there's no denying that. But I shall beg leave to tell himthat I've propped up the family. I don't know where they would have beenwithout me; and if it comes to balancing, I know into which scale thegratitude ought to go. Not that he's likely to feel any--but he can feelsomething else; and if he makes signs of setting the dogs on me, I shallmake him feel it. The people named Transome owe me a good deal more thanI owe them."
In this way Mr. Jermyn inwardly appealed against an unjust constructionwhich he foresaw that his old acquaintance the law might put on certainitems in his history.
I have known persons who have been suspected of under-valuing gratitude,and excluding it from the list of virtues; but on closer observation ithas been seen that, if they have never felt grateful, it has been forwant of an opportunity; and that, far from despising gratitude, theyregard it as the virtue most of all incumbent--on others toward them.