He shrank from the task the Governor
had assigned to him. It was a blow that was aimed at the tenderest point
of his own party; it was obliging the party, as the dominant power, to
thrust upon the mass of the people the radical execution of a law which
public opinion secretly opposed--that opinion even slyly welcoming the
breach of it. And Governor Waymouth had emphasized what that new measure
meant by citing the name of Luke Presson. It set the situation before
Harlan in a flash. He was summoned to carry out his pledge of loyalty to
Governor Waymouth by attacking the pet policy of nullification that kept
his own party off the shoals to which extreme radicalism would surely
drive it. The first man who would be hit--both as chairman of the party
State Committee and in his personal interests--would be the man whose
daughter he was seeking. Harlan wondered how that marriage proposal
would sound, either on the heels or on the eve of the introduction of
"the Thornton bill."
His uncertainty showed so plainly in his face that the Governor walked
around his table and scrutinized him closely.
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