Governing Passion by Don Gutteridge Read Free Book Online

favourable selections. This
in turn generated a lot of letter-writing, and so Marc had been
called in to assist Hincks and, occasionally, the French team (as
Marc’s French was exceptional). Marc was also available as a
translator or interpreter, although Louis himself spoke passable
English and understood even more.
    Robert and Hincks were waiting for Marc,
having risen earlier and taken breakfast in their rooms. Marc knew
he should be thinking about the upcoming discussion, but his mind
was upon his wife Beth and their two children, Maggie and Marcus
Junior. He hated leaving them behind in Toronto, and he realized
now that he would be needed here for weeks, not days. Little Marcus
was almost one and was starting to crawl all over Briar Cottage.
And his babble-talk was approaching speech of some kind. But duty
called, and Marc had rarely been able to resist its demands.
Perhaps it was his years as an army officer. More probably it was
due to his profound belief that the future of the new Canada lay in
the achievement of a responsible form of government in which the
executive was fully accountable to the elected Legislative
Assembly.
    “Good morning, Marc,” Robert said, waving
Marc to a seat at the table in the middle of the room. “We just got
here ourselves. We’re expecting Louis shortly.”
    “Louis is bringing us the latest news on the
status of our alliance,” Hincks said with his usual enthusiastic
grin.
    In contrast to Hincks, Robert Baldwin was an
ordinary looking man, one who did not command the attention of a
room until he spoke. And even then his voice was soft and rarely
raised in anger or enthusiasm. He was now in his mid-thirties and
of medium height and build. His most arresting feature was his
bold, intelligent eyes under their dark, almost brooding brows.
Hincks was a fair-haired Irishman with regular features and a ready
smile to accompany his forceful manner of speech and his ready
wit.
    “I think we can expect in excess of
forty-five from among our group and Louis’ supporters,” Robert
said. “And we’ve already got you on the Executive Council,” Hincks
said to Robert.
    Robert looked over at Marc. “And I’ve got to
give you a proper explanation of why I agreed to enter a cabinet
with Tories like William Draper, and you’ve been tactful enough not
to ask.”
    Marc smiled, and waited.
    “Well, I feel I can best promote the notion
that the cabinet as a whole is responsible to the majority opinion
of the Assembly from within. It’s obvious that sooner than later
the harmony of the cabinet – representative of every faction, it
seems – will not last. The Governor will propose legislation that
will be rejected by our alliance in the Assembly and bring matters
to a crisis point. When a stalemate ensues, I will suggest strongly
that Mr. Poulett Thomson, or Lord Sydenham as he’s now known,
dissolve the Executive and form a new ministry reflective of the
Reform group that controls the Assembly.”
    “He’ll be compelled to support responsible
government in fact, if not in principle,” Hincks added. “And that
will make it almost impossible to retreat to the old way of doing
things.”
    “The Tories are counting on our alliance to
collapse, once the French get here and find themselves in a
thoroughly English milieu,” Robert said.
    “But we’ve got Louis LaFontaine in our camp,
eh?” Marc said.
    And as if on cue, LaFontaine entered the
room. And commanded instant attention. He was unusually tall –
almost Marc’s height – a sort of tallish Napoleon, for he wore his
hair brushed forward like Bonaparte’s, and his left hand often
found its way into his jacket, much as the Emperor’s had whenever
he was posing. Whether this was a nervous tic or a deliberate
gesture was a matter of debate amongst those who knew Louis. But it
was the stillness at the centre of him that commanded respect, a
quiet fortitude, an unflinching quiescence that bespoke authority
and fierce conviction. At