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Shackwell nodded his assent and turned away without answering. As he came out of the lobby into the clear sunset radiance he saw a victoria drive up the long sweep to the Capitol and pause before the central portion. He descended the steps, and Mrs. Mornway leaned from her furs to greet him. "I have called for my husband," she said, smiling.
The Governor sat behind his desk in the clear autumn sunlight. In contrast to Fleetwood he seemed relaxed and unwieldy, and the face he turned to his friend had a gray look of convalescence. Shackwell wondered, with a start of apprehension, if he and Fleetwood had been together.
Another step, accompanied by a soft rustle of skirts, was advancing toward the library. "My wife? Let her come!" said the Governor. She stood before them in her bright evening dress, with an arrested brilliancy of aspect like the sparkle of a fountain suddenly caught in ice. Her look moved rapidly from one to the other; then she came forward, while Shackwell slipped behind her to close the door.
What on earth are you driving at? Of course Fleetwood will persist in refusing." Mornway smiled. "He did persist for three hours. But when he left here just now he had given me his word to accept." Shackwell groaned. "Then I am dealing with two madmen instead of one." The Governor laughed. "My poor Hadley, you're worse than I expected. I thought you would understand me." "Understand you?
Shackwell stammered. The Governor looked up with surprise. Shackwell could almost have sworn that he had indeed forgotten the private issue. "My wife is ready to face the consequences," he said. Shackwell returned to his former attitude of incredulity. "But Fleetwood? Fleetwood has no right to sacrifice " "To sacrifice my wife to the State? Oh, let us beware of big words.
The room swam about Shackwell, and when he recovered himself, Mornway, with outstretched hand, was advancing quietly to meet his guest. Fleetwood was a smaller man than the Governor. He was erect and compact, with a face full of dry energy, which seemed to press forward with the spring of his prominent features, as though it were the weapon with which he cleared his way through the world.
But you must think of yourself first you must spare yourself. Why should you be so horribly unhappy? Don't you see that since Mr. Fleetwood has behaved so well we are quite safe? And I swear to you I have paid back every penny of the money." THREE days later Shackwell was summoned by telephone to the Governor's office in the Capitol.
The ashes dropped from his cigar, scattering a white trail across the carpet which had excited Mrs. Nimick's envy. "The office is in my gift. If I didn't sell it, who did?" he demanded. Shackwell laid a hand on his arm. "For heaven's sake, John " "Who did, who did?" the Governor violently repeated. The two men faced each other in the closely curtained silence of the dim luxurious room.
"Because you'll be involved in it with him." The Governor laughed. "What have they got against me now?" Shackwell, standing up, confronted his friend solemnly. "This that Fleetwood bought his appointment two years ago." "Ah bought it of me? Why didn't it come out at the time?" "Because it wasn't known then. It has only been found out lately." "Known found out? This is magnificent!
If I had, I might have asked your advice, and I didn't want to ask anybody's advice but my own." The Governor spoke steadily, but in a voice a trifle too well disciplined to be natural. "I've had a three days' conference with myself," he continued, "and now that everything is settled I want you to do me a favor." "Yes?" Shackwell assented.
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