I have governed no country.
"I tell you, my friend, that you cannot do it. It is out of the
question. Men may move forward from little work to big work; but they
cannot move back and do little work, when they have had tasks which
were really great. I tell you, Mr. Finn, that the House of Parliament
is the place for you to work in. It is the only place;--that and the
abodes of Ministers. Am not I your friend who tell you this?"
"I know that you are my friend."
"And will you not credit me when I tell you this? What do you fear,
that you should run away? You have no wife;--no children. What is the
coming misfortune that you dread?" She paused a moment as though for
an answer, and he felt that now had come the time in which it would
be well that he should tell her of his engagement with his own Mary.
She had received him very playfully; but now within the last few
minutes there had come upon her a seriousness of gesture, and almost
a solemnity of tone, which made him conscious that he should in no
way trifle with her. She was so earnest in her friendship that he
owed it to her to tell her everything. But before he could think of
the words in which his tale should be told, she had gone on with her
quick questions. "Is it solely about money that you fear?" she said.
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