He gave thanks to the Returning Officer, and then, with his
agent, left the building by the back door. He did not wait for the
announcement of Carnac's triumph, and he knew his work was done for ever
in public life.
Soon he had said his say at the club where his supporters, discomfited,
awaited him. To demands for a speech, he said he owed to his workers what
he could never repay, and that the long years they had kept him in
Parliament would be the happiest memory of his life.
"We'll soon have you back," shouted a voice from the crowd.
"It's been a good fight," said Barode Barouche. Somehow the fact he had
not beaten his son by the story of his secret marriage was the sole
comfort he had. He advised his followers to "play the game" and let the
new member have his triumph without belittlement.
"It's the best fight I've had in thirty years," he said at last, "and
I've been beaten fairly."
In another hour he was driving into the country on his way to visit an
old ex-Cabinet Minister, who had been his friend through all the years of
his Parliamentary life. It did not matter that the hour was late. He knew
the veteran would be waiting for him, and unprepared for the bad news he
brought.
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