Absurd, of course!  He was an old friend of Ferrier’s, whose relation to his mother necessarily involved close and frequent contact with her son.  And at the same time—­although in the past Ferrier had no doubt laid him under great personal and political obligations—­he had by now, in the natural course of things, developed strong opinions of his own, especially as to the conduct of party affairs in the House of Commons; opinions which were not Ferrier’s—­which were, indeed, vehemently opposed to Ferrier’s.  In his, Oliver’s, opinion, Ferrier’s lead in the House—­on certain questions—­was a lead of weakness, making for disaster.  Was he not even to hold, much less to express such a view, because of the quasi-parental relation in which Ferrier had once stood to him?  The whole thing was an odious confusion—­most unfair to him individually—­between personal and Parliamentary duty.

Frankness?—­loyalty?  It would, no doubt, be said that Ferrier had always behaved with singular generosity both toward opponents and toward dissidents in his own party.  Open and serious argument was at no time unwelcome to him.

All very well!  But how was one to argue, beyond a certain point, with a man twenty-five years your senior, who had known you in jackets, and was also your political chief?

Moreover, he had argued—­to the best of his ability.  Ferrier had written him a striking series of letters, no doubt, and he had replied to them.  As to Ferrier’s wish that he should communicate certain points in those letters to Barton and Lankester, he had done it, to some extent.  But it was a most useless proceeding.  The arguments employed had been considered and rejected a hundred times already by every member of the dissident group.

And with regard to the meeting, which had apparently roused so sharp a resentment in Ferrier, Marsham maintained simply that he was not responsible.  It was a meeting of the advanced Radicals of the division.  Neither Marsham nor his agents had been present.  Certain remarks and opinions of his own had been quoted indeed, even in public, as leading up to it, and justifying it.  A great mistake.  He had never meant to countenance any personal attack on Ferrier or his leadership.  Yet he uncomfortably admitted that the meeting had told badly on the election.  In the view of one side, he had not had pluck enough to go to it; in the view of the other, he had disgracefully connived at it.

* * * * *

The arrival of the evening post and papers did something to brush away these dismal self-communings.  Wonderful news from the counties!  The success of the latest batch of advanced candidates had been astonishing.  Other men, it seemed, had been free to liberate their souls!  Well, now the arbiter of the situation was Lord Philip, and there would certainly be a strong advanced infusion in the new Ministry.  Marsham considered that he had as good claims as any of the