WALTER KENT. [_Giving them_ LORD CHARLES'S _oratory_.] Gentlemen, in these latter days of Radical opportunism!--You know, I was there . . sitting next to an old gentleman who shouted "Jesuit." FRANCES TREBELL. But supposing Mallaby and the Nonconformists hadn't been able to force the Liberals' hand? MRS. FARRANT. [_Speaking as of inferior beings._] Why, they were glad of any cry going to the Country! FRANCES TREBELL. [_As she considers this._] Yes . . and Lord Charles would still have had as good a chance of forcing Lord Horsham's. It has been clever tactics. LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Who has been listening, sharp-eyed._] Contrariwise, he wouldn't have liked a Radical Bill though, would he? WALTER KENT. [_With aplomb._] He knew he was safe from that. The government must have dissolved before Christmas anyway . . and the swing of the pendulum's a sure thing. MRS. FARRANT. [_With her smile._] It's never a sure thing. WALTER KENT. Oh, Mrs. Farrant, look how unpopular the Liberals are. FRANCES TREBELL. What made them bring in Resolutions? WALTER KENT. [_Overflowing with knowledge of the subject._] I was told Mallaby insisted on their showing they meant business. I thought he was being too clever . . and it turns out he was. Tommy Luxmore told me there was a fearful row in the Cabinet about it. But on their last legs, you know, it didn't seem to matter, I suppose. Even then, if Prothero had mustered up an ounce of tact . . I believe they could have pulled them through . . FRANCES TREBELL. Not the Spoliation one. WALTER KENT. Well, Mr. Trebell dished that! FRANCES TREBELL. Henry says his speech didn't turn a vote. MRS. FARRANT. [_With charming irony._] How disinterested of him! WALTER KENT. [_Enthusiastic._] That speech did if ever a speech did. FRANCES TREBELL. Is there any record of a speech that ever did? He just carried his own little following with him. MRS. FARRANT. But the crux of the whole matter is and has always been . . what's to be done with the Church's money. LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Visualising sovereigns._] A hundred millions or so . . think of it! FRANCES TREBELL. There has been from the start a good deal of anti-Nonconformist feeling against applying the money to secular uses. MRS. FARRANT. [_Deprecating false modesty, on anyone's behalf._] Oh, of course the speech turned votes . . twenty of them at least. LUCY DAVENPORT. [_Determined on information._] Then I was told Lord Horsham had tried to come to an understanding himself with the Nonconformists about Disestablishment--oh--a long time ago . . over the Education Bill. FRANCES TREBELL. Is that true, Julia? MRS. FARRANT. How should I know? FRANCES TREBELL. [_With some mischief._] You might. MRS. FARRANT. [_Weighing her words._] I don't think it would have been altogether wise to make advances. They'd have asked more than a Conservative government could possibly persuade the Church to give up.