Desperate Acts (40 page)

“But Hincks and LaFontaine have little in
common,” James pointed out. “They may claim to be reformers, but
the reforms the French want are not those of the English. Are
they?”

The Bishop harrumphed. “Both the French
Rouge
party and our Reformers will do anything to embarrass
and disenfranchise established authority of any kind. That is their
raison d’être
. On many issues, should they ever agree to
cooperate in the new joint parliament, they could form a single
block and cause some disruption there. But from what we know so
far, they are a long way from any sort of
détente
.”

Receiver-General Maxwell took up the argument
from that point. “Remember, the French still feel victimized and
utterly defeated. The Union Bill itself is seen as a travesty by
them. They have no tradition of parliamentary procedure and
political negotiation. They have a religion to protect. And so
on.”

“So there is little chance that any coalition
of
Rouge
and Reform could result in their influencing the
direction in which the united provinces must develop?” Winthrop
said.

“Even with the remote possibility of their
controlling the Assembly at some distant time in the future,”
Maxwell said, “the appointed Council and the cabinet, along with
the governor’s prerogative, should act to keep matters in
perspective.”

“Still,” James said, “Poulett Thomson has
shown a predilection for choosing his Executive Councillors from
amongst the elected members of the current Assembly.”

“And there’s a possibility he’s coming to
Toronto to offer Robert Baldwin, the arch-Reformer, a cabinet
post,” Michaels said, alluding to yet another rumour circulating in
the capital.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” Maxwell said, “calm
down. You’re beginning to talk as if the Governor favours
responsible government, but he has assured us over and over again
that he has no intention of having his cabinet answer directly to
the majority party in the Assembly. And that is that.”

Carson James went suddenly pale. “I - I’m not
so sure about that,” he said.

The Bishop glared at him, his eyebrows
alarmingly rigid. “Explain yourself, sir.”

Trembling at the Bishop’s response or the
implications of what he had to say to him, James replied: “My
wife’s niece is a maid out at Spadina, where Governor Thomson and
the Baldwins met in secret during the debate over the Union Bill
last fall. One day, she told me, she overheard Thomson tell Robert
Baldwin that he could not guarantee him responsible government in
the new order, but that he felt certain it would come about –
naturally and inevitably.”

“The blackguard!” Michaels cried, spilling
his third sherry.

Maxwell chuckled softly. “But he said that
merely to get Reform support for his bill, the wily old
bastard.”

Much relief followed upon this compelling
insight.

Hesitantly, James said, “But what if the
Governor was being wily with us as well? After all, he’s a Whig,
not a Tory.”

After the merest pause, Maxwell said, “True.
But he’s also a governor, a vice-regent with near-absolute power.
And I’ve never seen any gentleman – Whig, Tory or otherwise –
relinquish such power voluntarily. And certainly not to a polyglot
crew such as is likely to compose the new Assembly in Kingston or
wherever.”

The murmurs of enthusiastic assent were
stilled by Bishop Strachan raising his hand as if he were bidding
his congregation to prayer. “I believe you are right, Ignatius. On
the other hand, we have no more guarantees offered us than the
rabble do. I fear we must scotch the serpent in its nest, not wait
for it to grow into some hydra-headed beast of the Apocalypse.
Should Monsieur LaFontaine and Mr. Baldwin-Hincks find enough
common ground to dominate the new Legislative Assembly, it may well
prove to be a most unholy alliance.”

“What are you suggesting, John?” Maxwell
said.

“I am proposing that we become acutely
vigilant, and that we do everything in our power to see that such a
perverse and obscene coalition never sees the light of day.”

Maxwell stared at the storm pummelling the
windows even more fiercely than it had been doing earlier in the
evening. “Then let us pray for more snow,” he said.

***