He was perfectly well aware that it was within Dartrey's power to rule the country whenever he chose.

Yet there seemed something shadowy about these things, something unpleasantly real and repulsive in the familiarity of his companion, in the thought of association with him, He battled with the idea, treated it as a prejudice, analysed it.

From head to foot the man wore the wrong clothes in the wrong manner,--boots of a vivid shade of brown, thick socks without garters, an obviously ready-made suit of grey flannel, a hopeless tie, an unimaginable collar.

Even his ready flow of speech suggested the gifts of the tubthumpers his indomitable persistence, a lack of sensibility.

He knew his facts, knew all the stock arguments, was brimful of statistics, was argumentative, convincing, in his way sincere.