These two men, apparently so united, hated each other as soon
as one had deceived the other.
The politician was made one of a ministry; Marcas remained in the
opposition to hinder his man from being attacked; nay, by skilful
tactics he won him the applause of the opposition. To excuse himself
for not rewarding his subaltern, the chief pointed out the
impossibility of finding a place suddenly for a man on the other side,
without a great deal of manoeuvring. Marcas had hoped confidently for
a place to enable him to marry, and thus acquire the qualification he
so ardently desired. He was two-and-thirty, and the Chamber ere long
must be dissolved. Having detected his man in this flagrant act of bad
faith, he overthrew him, or at any rate contributed largely to his
overthrow, and covered him with mud.
A fallen minister, if he is to rise again to power, must show that he
is to be feared; this man, intoxicated by Royal glibness, had fancied
that his position would be permanent; he acknowledged his
delinquencies; besides confessing them, he did Marcas a small money
service, for Marcas had got into debt. He subsidized the newspaper on
which Marcas worked, and made him the manager of it.
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