Being shrewd, he saw the immediate necessity of choosing, and, being honest, he chose honestly.
"Perhaps it is as well," he said.
"That Lord Wellington should go ?" cried O'Moy.
"That Lord Wellington should announce intentions of going," Forjas explained.

And having admitted so much, he now stripped off the official mask completely.

He spoke with his own voice and not with that of the Council whose mouthpiece he was.

"Of course it will never be permitted.
Lord Wellington has been entrusted with the defence of the country by the Prince Regent; consequently it is the duty of every Portuguese to ensure that at all costs he shall continue in that office." O'Moy was mystified.

Only a knowledge of the minister's inmost thoughts could have explained this oddly sudden change of manner.
"But your Excellency understands the terms--the only terms upon which his lordship will so continue ?" "Perfectly.