At the same time he never disguised from himself for an instant that but for a prospective 20,000 l. the facts concerned would not have affected him in the least.  Till to-night it had been to his interest to back the strike, and to harass the employers.  Now things were changed; and he took a curious satisfaction in the quick movements of his own intelligence, as his thought rapidly sketched the “curve” the Clarion would have to take, and the arguments by which he would commend it.

As to his shares, they would be convertible of course into immediate cash.  Some man of straw would be forthcoming to buy what he would possess in the name of another man of straw.  It was not supposed—­he took for granted—­by the men who had dared to tempt him, that he would risk his whole political reputation and career for anything less than a bird in the hand.

Well! what were the chances of secrecy?

Naturally they stood to lose less by disclosure, a good deal, than he did.  And Denny, one of the principal employers, was his personal enemy.  He would be likely enough for the present to keep his name out of the affair.  But no man of the world could suppose that the transaction would pass without his knowledge.  Wharton’s own hasty question to Mr. Pearson on the subject seemed to himself now, in cold blood, a remarkably foolish one.

He walked up and down thinking this point out.  It was the bitter pill of the whole affair.

In the end, with a sudden recklessness of youth and resource, he resolved to dare it.  There would not be much risk.  Men of business do not as a rule blazon their own dirty work, and public opinion would be important to the new Syndicate.

Some risk, of course, there would be.  Well! his risks, as they stood, were pretty considerable.  He chose the lesser—­not without something of a struggle, some keen personal smart.  He had done a good many mean and questionable things in his time, but never anything as gross as this.  The thought of what his relation to a certain group of men—­to Denny especially—­would be in the future, stung sharply.  But it is the part of the man of action to put both scruple and fear behind him on occasion.  His career was in question.

Craven?  Well, Craven would be a difficulty.  He would telegraph to him first thing in the morning before the offices closed, and see him on Monday.  For Marcella’s sake the man must be managed—­somehow.

And—­Marcella!  How should she ever know, ever suspect!  She already disliked the violence with which the paper had supported the strike.  He would find no difficulty whatever in justifying all that she or the public would see, to her.

Then insensibly he let his thoughts glide into thinking of the money.  Presently he drew a sheet of paper towards him and covered it with calculations as to his liabilities.  By George! how well it worked out!  By the time he threw it aside, and walked to the window for air, he already felt himself a bona-fide supporter of the Syndicate—­the promoter in the public interest of a just and well-considered scheme.