Southampton Row - Anne Perry [99]
“‘However, I am standing for the seat of South Lambeth in the present parliamentary election, and the date of that does not permit me the luxury of time.
“’Our past has many glorious events I cannot and would not change. But the future is ours to mold as we will. Let us by all means write great poetry about military disasters like the Charge of the Light Brigade at Sebastopol, where brave men died uselessly at the command of incompetent generals. Let us pity the survivors of such desperate actions when they hobble past us in the streets, blind or maimed, or lie in hospital beds. Let us lay flowers on their graves!
“‘But let us also act to see that their sons and grandsons do not fall the same way. This we have not only the power but the obligation to change.’ ”
“That’s not ill thought!” Emily argued. “As far as I can see, it is true, a perfectly fair and honorable assessment.”
“I’m not finished yet,” Jack said grimly.
“Well, what else does he say?”
He looked down at the page again. “‘We need an army to fight in time of war, should we be threatened by a foreign nation. We do not need adventurers who are tarred with the brush of Imperialism, and believe that as Englishmen we have the right to attack and conquer any other land we choose to, either because we believe profoundly that our way of life is superior to theirs and they would benefit from our laws and our institutions imposed upon their own, by force of arms, or because they have land, minerals, or any other natural resources that we may exploit.’ ”
“Oh, Jack!” Emily was appalled.
“There’s more of the same,” he said bitterly. “He doesn’t exactly accuse Kingsley of being a self-interested glory seeker at the expense of the ordinary man, but the implication is clear enough.”
“Why?” she said with a sinking feeling deepening in her. “I thought he had more . . . more sense of reality. Even if that were all true, it won’t win any friends he needs! Those who agree will be on his side anyway, and those who don’t will hate him for it!” She put her hands up to her face. “How could he be so naive?”
“Because Kingsley must have rattled him,” Jack replied. “I think Aubrey’s always hated opportunism, the idea that the strongest have the right to take what they want, and he sees Imperialism that way.”
“That’s a little narrow, isn’t it?” she asked, not really as a question. She did not defer to Jack, or anyone else, in her beliefs. Actual knowledge was another thing, but this was emotion and the understanding of people. “I am coming to think more and more that political fighting is only a good understanding of human nature and the sense to keep your mouth closed when speaking would not help. Tell no lies in which you will be caught, and never ever lose your temper or promise something you may be seen not to have given.”
He smiled, but there was no pleasure in it at all. “I wish you had told Aubrey that a couple of days ago.”
“Do you think it will really make a difference?” She was clinging on to hope. “That is the Times, isn’t it? Yes. How many of the voters in Lambeth South will read it, do you suppose?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll wager you anything you like that Charles Voisey will!” he responded.
She thought for a moment of making the wager and asking for a new parasol if she won, then realized how futile it was. Of course Voisey would see it—and use it.
“Aubrey talks about the military as if the generals were fools,” Jack went on with a note of despair in his voice. “Heaven knows we’ve had enough of them who were, but planning the tactics of battle is harder than you think. You can have clever enemies, inadequate arms, supply lines cut, a change in the