We want a party that is neither Liberal nor
Tory."
"Exactly.--Well, now, may I depend upon you?"
"I'll come when you send for me."
"Very well. I have your address."
He stood up, hesitated a moment, and offered his hand, which
Northway took without raising his eyes.
"I shall walk on into Clifton; so here we say good-bye for the
present.--A week or ten days."
"I suppose you won't alter your mind, Mr.--Mr. Marks?"
"Not the least fear of that. I have a public duty to discharge."
So speaking, and with a peculiar smile on his lips, Glazzard walked
away. Northway watched him and seemed tempted to follow, but at
length went down the hill.
CHAPTER XVIII
Disappointed in his matrimonial project, the Rev. Scatchard Vialls
devoted himself with acrid zeal to the interests of the Conservative
party. He was not the most influential of the Polterham clerics, for
women in general rather feared than liked him; a sincere ascetic, he
moved but awkwardly in the regions of tea and tattle, and had an
uncivil habit of speaking what he thought the truth without regard
to time, place, or person. Some of his sermons had given offence,
with the result that several ladies betook themselves to gentler
preachers. But the awe inspired by his religious enthusiasm was
practically useful now that he stood forward as an assailant of the
political principles held in dislike by most Polterham church-goers.
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