"Say, I"m not quite sure I follow you," Mr. Bundercombe observed. "I am with you all right when you say that the direct pecuniary payment for being in Parliament doesn"t amount to anything; but what"s your pull worth, eh?"
"My what?" I inquired.
"Dash it all!" Mr. Bundercombe continued a little testily. "I only want to get at the common sense of the matter. You are thinking of trying for a seat in Parliament, and you say the four hundred a year you get for it is nothing. Well, of course, it"s nothing. What I want to know is just what you get out of it indirectly? You get the handling of so much patronage, I suppose? What is it worth to you, and how much is there?"
I spent the next five minutes in an eloquent attempt to explain the difference between English and American politics. Mr. Bundercombe was partly convinced, but more than ever sure that he had found his way into a country of half-witted people. Eve, however, was much quicker at grasping the situation.
"I think it"s perfectly delightful, Paul!" she declared. "I have read no end of stories of English electioneering, and they sound such fun! I want to come down and help. I have tons of new dresses--and I can read up all about politics going down on the train."
"That brings me," I went on, "to the real object of my visit. I want you and your father--I want you all," I added heroically--"to come down with me to Bedfordshire and help. You were coming anyway next week for a little time, you know. I want to carry you off at once."
Mrs. Bundercombe, who had been only waiting for her opportunity, broke in at this juncture.
"Young man," she said impressively; "Mr. Walmsley, before I consent to attend one of your meetings or to a.s.sociate myself in any way with your cause, I must ask you one plain and simple question, and insist upon a plain and simple answer: What are your views as to Woman Suffrage?"
"The views of my party," I answered, with futile diplomacy.
"Enunciate as briefly as possible, but clearly, what the views of your party are," Mrs. Bundercombe bade me.
"I won"t have him heckled!" Eve protested, coming over to my side.
I coughed.
"We are entirely in sympathy," I explained, "with the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women up to a certain point. We think that unmarried women who own property and pay taxes should have the vote."
"Rubbish!" Mrs. Bundercombe exclaimed firmly. "We want universal suffrage.
We want men and women placed on exactly the same footing, politically and socially."
"That," I said, "I am afraid no political party would be prepared to grant at present."
"Then, save as an opponent, I can attend no political meetings in this country," Mrs. Bundercombe declared, rising to her feet with a fearsome air of finality.
I sighed.
"In that case," I confessed, "I am afraid it is useless for me to appeal to you for help. Perhaps you and your father----" I added, turning to Eve.
"Let them go down to you in the country by all means!" Mrs. Bundercombe interrupted. "For my part, though my visit to Europe was wholly undesired --was forced upon me, in fact, by dire circ.u.mstances," she added emphatically, glaring at Mr. Bundercombe--"since I am here I find so much work ready to my hand, so much appalling ignorance, so much prejudice, that I conceive it to be my duty to take up during my stay the work which presents itself here. I accordingly shall not leave London."
Mr. Bundercombe cheered up perceptibly at these words.
"I am rather busy myself," he said; "but perhaps a day or two----"
I thrust my arm through his.
"I rely upon you to help me canva.s.s," I told him. "A lot is done by personal persuasion."
"Canva.s.s!" Mr. Bundercombe repeated reflectively. "Say, just what do you mean by that?"
"It is very simple," I a.s.sured him. "You go and talk to the farmers and voters generally, and put a few plain issues before them--we"ll post you up all right as to what to say. Then you wind up by asking for their votes and interest on my behalf."
"I do that--do I?" Mr. Bundercombe murmured. "Talk to them in a plain, straightforward way, eh?"
"That"s it," I agreed. "A man with sound common sense like yourself could do me a lot of good."
Mr. Bundercombe was thoughtful, I am convinced that at that moment the germs of certain ideas which bore fruit a little later on were born in his mind. I saw him blink several times as he gazed up at the ceiling. I saw a faint smile gradually expand over his face. A premonition of trouble, even at that moment, forced itself on me.
"You"ll have to be careful, you know," I explained, a little apprehensively. "You"ll have to keep friends with the fellows all the time. They wouldn"t appreciate practical jokes down there and the law as to bribery and corruption is very strict."
Mr. Bundercombe nodded solemnly.
"If I take the job on," he said, "you can trust me. It seems as though there might be something in it."
"You"ll come down with me, then," I begged, "both of you? Come this afternoon! The dressmakers can follow you, Eve. It isn"t far--an hour in the train and twenty minutes in the motor. We may have to picnic a little just to start with, but I know that the most important of the servants are there, ready and waiting."
"Pray do not let me stand in your way," Mrs. Bundercombe declared, rising.
"My time will be fully occupied. I wish you good morning, Mr. Walmsley. I have an appointment at a quarter to twelve. You can let me know your final decision at luncheon-time."
She left the room. Mr. Bundercombe, Eve, and I exchanged glances.
"How far away did you say your place was, Paul?" Mr. Bundercombe asked.
"Right in the country," I told him--"takes you about an hour and a half to get there."
"I think we"ll come," Mr. Bundercombe decided, looking absently out the window and watching his wife eloquently admonish a taxicab driver, who had driven up with a cigarette in his mouth. "Yes, I"m all for it!"
My little party at Walmsley Hall was in most respects a complete success.
My sister was able to come and play hostess, and Eve was charmed with my house and its surroundings. Mr. Bundercombe, however, was a source of some little anxiety. On the first morning, when we were all preparing to go out, he drew me on one side.
"Paul," he said--he had, with some difficulty, got into the way of calling me by my Christian name occasionally --"I want to get wise to this thing.
Where does your political boss hang out?"
"We haven"t such a person," I told him.
He seemed troubled. The more he inquired into our electioneering habits, the less he seemed to understand them.
"What"s your platform, anyway?" he asked.
I handed him a copy of my election address, which he read carefully through, with a large cigar in the corner of his mouth. He handed it back to me with a somewhat depressed air.
"Seems to kind of lack grit," he remarked, a little doubtfully. "Why don"t you go for the other side a bit more?"
"Look here!" I suggested, mindful that Eve was waiting for me. "You run down and have a chat with my agent. You"ll find him just opposite the town hall in Bildborough. There"s a car going down now."
"I"m on!" he agreed. "Anyway I must get to understand this business."
He departed presently and returned to luncheon with a distinctly crestfallen air. He beckoned me mysteriously into the library and laid his hand upon my shoulder in friendly fashion.
"Look here, Paul," he said, "is it too late to change your ticket?"