Don Gutteridge - Governing Passion

However, your patient and detailedexplanation of Baldwin’s hopes for a responsible form of governmentwherein the executive would be beholden to the Assembly and theAssembly beholden to the electorate was intriguing, to say theleast. However, interesting though the possibilities be, there isno more than a hope and a desire on the part of the Reformers thatthe governor will accede to their pressures, even if they becomethe dominant voice in the Assembly, representing both races.

What you are asking me to do is to betray thetrust that so many of my countrymen have placed in me over the pastthree and half years — to collaborate with those who have burnt ourbarns and destroyed our churches — on the faint hope of a politicalbreakthrough in Kingston this Spring. Let me say that I am nowconvinced that responsible government could work in favour of bothraces, but am not sufficiently certain of its attainment to joinLaFontaine’s alliance. Your eloquence has, however, convinced methat I should stay where I am and not respond to the overtures ofJohn Neilson and his ultra-nationalists. For while there would besatisfaction personally for me to do so, I think an obstructionistand xenophobic approach at this point in our history is not the wayforward.

So I will sit tight, and do nothing but wishyou and your Reformers the best of luck in pursuing your goals.Please feel free to write me again. I want to hear about your newbride and would like news of that twin sister of yours, of whom youspoke so often and so highly.

Until then,

I remain

Your friend

Henri Thériault

“Well,” Robert said into the absolute silence,“you’ve caught his attention. I congratulate you, Christopher, andMarc here for composing a letter persuasive enough to elicit thisresponse.”

“At least we’ve convinced him there’s anotherroute than Neilson’s ultra-nationalists,” Louis said.

“We came so close, though,” Hincks said.

“Is it worth writing him again?” GillesGagnon said.

“I don’t know what we could add that wedidn’t put in the first letter,” Marc said.

“I could keep the next letter personal,”Pettigrew said. “He obviously remembers our time together and whatI did for him.”

“It’s worth the effort,” Robert said. “Isuspect Neilson will keep sending agents to work on him. We need tokeep reminding him, through Christopher, that we English are notall demons.”

“I’d be happy to do that,” Pettigrew said.“He’s given me an opening with that last sentence, hasn’t he?”

“Perhaps he’s wavering more than he’s lettingon,” Louis said.

“Why don’t you invite him to meet you?” Marcsaid, and was surprised at the sudden silence in the room.

“I mean, Christopher could suggest that he’dlike to meet on a personal basis, say, at a place somewhere neutralbetween here and Chateauguay,” Marc added.

“Splendid idea,” Hincks enthused. “How aboutCornwall?”

“There’s a little inn just the other side ofCornwall,” Marc said. “They could arrange to meet there. If we geta letter off immediately, he should have it in two days.Christopher could suggest that he intends to be there on businessanyway, and will simply wait to see if he shows up. They could betogether, if all goes well, in four days.”

“What have we got to lose?” Robert said.

“As long as our friend can take this timeaway from his bride,” Louis said with a wry smile.

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Pettigrewsaid.

“And we’ll send you along, Marc, to help withthe persuasion. If Thériault objects, you can just step asidequietly.”

“All right,” Marc said. “It was my idea, so Iguess I really can’t say no, can I?”

Marc and Christopher Pettigrew wereinstructed to go up to the young man’s room and begin drafting asecond letter right away.

Up in the room Pettigrew looked suddenlyforlorn.

“What’s the matter?” Marc said. “Don’t youwant to leave your fiancée?”

“It’s not that,” Pettigrew said. “Marthawould be very understanding about it.”

“It’s not your sister again?”

“I’m afraid so. I’ve had another disturbingletter. My attempt to reassure her she’s safe and loved apparentlyhad little effect. Would you mind reading the letter and giving mesome advice?”

“I’d be glad to,” Marc said. He took theletter that Pettigrew picked up off his desk, and read:

Dear Christopher:

Once again you confess what, knowing you, I cannotaccept as the truth. You are not the only one in the Reform partywho can deal with this execrable Frenchman, and your including apathetic screed from one of those you bow down before was apathetic attempt to persuade me otherwise. Mr. Edwards writes welland passionately, but then he does not know anything essentialabout you or your bride to be. He does not know you have forsakenthe one to whom you pledged your love and lasting devotion. Whatsort of witch must this Martha Todd be if she can beguile you soand woo you away from the troth you made to me, and the promises toremain at my side forever? It is all right for you on your ownthere in Kingston because you have your gentlemen friends and yourinamorata. How could you allow such diversions to keep you awayfrom Toronto and me, who waits as patient as Penelope for hersoul-mate to return and make her well again?

Yes, the headaches have come on as severe asthey did when we were five years old and I was struck down, you’llremember, like a tree felled by lightning, and you refused to leavethe darkness of our room and my side even though the doctorsinsisted on it. Please know that because of your absence, I wassemi-conscious for almost a day, moaning by myself in the dark ofmy bedroom, knowing you ought to be in the adjoining room preparingto offer me the only comfort against the pain.

I want you back in Toronto. I need youdesperately. I rant against that awful woman who keeps us apart andme miserable. If I were a witch I would curse her.

Come home. And write me no more lies. Theydouble the pain!

Your twin sister,

Christine

“You see, sir, how my absence torments her. I don’tsee how I can do anything but get the first coach back toToronto.”

“She does sound desperate, but if she’s beenhaving these headaches since she was little, they are obviously notlife-threatening. They sound like migraines to me.”

“That may be so, but they are exceedinglydistressful.”

“Has she servants to take care of her?”

“Mrs. Baldridge, a long-time widow, has beenwith the family ever since Christine and I were tots. She wasreally a nanny to us, and she dotes on Christine. And Gulliver isour butler, who keeps the house running smoothly. He’s also veryprotective of my sister.”

“Well, there you are,” Marc said. “She’s gotpeople who care around her.”

“But they’re not me, are they?”

“My honest opinion, Christopher, is that yourpoor sister does not want you to marry. These letters are reallyabout Miss Dodd, whom she sees as bewitching you.”

“But I’ve been honest with her all along. AsI mentioned to you, I even told her that Martha looks likeher.”

“And she was not amused, right?”

“She flew into a rage. I thought, foolishly,that she’d be flattered.”

“But you are determined to getmarried?”

“I am.”

“So going back to Toronto, even for a fewdays, is not going to change that fact. It’s more likely she’ll seeyour return as a sign of weakness, and press you harder not tomarry.”

“You may be right. And Martha and I intend togo to Toronto right after the wedding — Christine has refused totake part — and then we’ll all be together.”

“So you need to stick it out here, don’tyou?” Even though he was making an argument he believed to beright, Marc still felt guilty about pressuring the lad.