Chown was not aware of this, nor that
the candidate had remarked of him to Lilian: "We must have that
demagogue among his kind, of course." Denzil's agent (Hummerstone by
name) instantly secured rooms in admirable situations, and the
Public Hall was at the disposal of the party for their first great
meeting a few days hence.
In facing that assembly (Toby Liversedge was chairman) Denzil had a
very slight and very brief recurrence of his platform nervousness.
Determined to risk nothing, he wrote out his speech with great care
and committed it to memory. The oration occupied about two hours,
with not a moment of faltering. It was true that he had discovered
his vocation; he spoke like a man of long Parliamentary experience,
to the astonished delight of his friends, and with enthusiastic
applause from the mass of his hearers. Such eloquence had never been
heard in Polterham. If anything, he allowed himself too much scope
in vituperation, but it was a fault on the right side. The only
circumstance that troubled him was when his eye fell upon Lilian,
and he saw her crying with excitement; a fear passed through his
mind that she might be overwrought and fall into hysterics, or
faint. The occasion proved indeed too much for her; that night she
did not close her eyes, and the next day saw her prostrate in
nervous exhaustion.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200