First Among Equals - books

manner that was the stamp of his aristocratic family. He
interrupted their
flow of conversation awkwardly. "I was interested to read
Johnson's latest
communiqu& on Vietnam, and I must confess that the
escalation . . ."
... kAlhat's he interrogating you about?" asked a voice
from behind him. Raymond turned to find the Prime
Minister by his side. "I think I should warn you, Am
bassador," continued Mr. Wilson, "that Raymond
Gould is one of the brighter efforts we've produced this
time, and quite capable of quoting you verbatim years
afteryou've forgotten what you thought you said."
"It's not that long ago they used to say the same sort
of thing about
you," the ambassador replied.
The Prime Minister chuckled, slapped Raymond on the
shoulder and moved
on to another group of guests.
Raymond rankled at the condescension he imagined he'd
heard in the Prime
Minister's tone, only too aware that his nervousness had
led him to
commit a social gaffe. As in the past, his humiliation
turned quickly
into anger against himself. He knew that the Prime
Minister's words had
contained some genuine admiration, for if Raymond had
gained any
reputation in his first six weeks in Parliament, it was
as one of the
Labour Party's intellectuals. But he felt the familiar
fear that he would
ultimately fail to turn his mental acuity into the
currency of politics.
Whereas some of his peers among the new intake of N4Ps,
inen like Simon
Kerslake, had delivered niaiden speeches that niade the
veterans in
Parliament sit up and take notice, Raymond's first
effort had not been
well received; reading nervously from a prepared
mainuseript, he had been
unable to make the House hang on his every word.