ive even Sir Rupert any hint of his suspicions that the
whole thing was only a put-up job. He was too jealous of the honour of
Gloria. To him Gloria was as his wife, his child; he could not allow
himself to suggest the idea that Gloria had surrendered herself body and
soul to the government of a gang of swindlers.

Sir Rupert prepared many despatches during these days of tension.
Undoubtedly he derived much advantage from such schooling as he got from
the Dictator. He perfectly astonished our representatives in Orizaba and
in Gloria by the fulness and the accuracy of his local knowledge. His
answers in the House of Commons were models of condensed and clear
information. He might, for aught that anyone could tell to the contrary,
have lived half his life in Gloria and the other half in Orizaba. For
himself he began to admire more and more the clear impartiality of the
Dictator. Ericson seemed to give him the benefit of his mere local
knowledge, strained perfectly clear of any prejudice or partisanship.
But Ericson certainly kept back his worst suspicions. He justified
himself in doing so. As yet they were only suspicions.

Sir Rupert dictated to Soame Rivers the points of various despatches.
Sir Rupert liked to have a distinct savour of literature and of culture
in his despatches, and he put in a certain amount of that kind of thing
himself, and was very much pleased when Soame Rivers could contribute a
little more. He was becoming very proud of his despatches on this South
American question. Nobody could be better coached, he thought. Ericson
must certainly know all about it--and he was pretty well able to give
the despatches a good form himself--and then Soame Rivers was a
wonderful man for a happy allusion or quotation or illustration. So Sir
Rupert felt well contented with the way things were going; and it may be
that now and again there came into his mind the secret, half-suppressed
thought that if the South American question should end, despite all his
despatches, in the larger Republic absorbing the lesser, and that thus
Ericson was cut off from any further career in the New World, it would
be very satisfactory if he would settle down in England; and then if
Helena and he took to each other, Helena's father would put no
difficulties in their way.

Soame Rivers copied, amended, added to, the despatches with,
metaphorically, his tongue in his cheek. The general attitude of Soame
Rivers towards the world's politics