All this was repeated right and left with the usual exaggeration, and reached, as perhaps was intended, those whom it concerned.

The result was that Rhodes found himself tabooed at Pretoria.

This he said was due to the great fear which his influence over public opinion in South Africa inspired among those in command there.
The big trouble with Rhodes was that he would never own himself in the wrong.

He quibbled, he hesitated, he postponed replies to questions submitted for his consideration.

He wearied everybody around him with his constant prevarications in regard to facts he ought to have accepted without flinching if he wanted to regain some of his lost prestige.
Unfortunately for himself and for the cause of peace in South Africa, Rhodes fancied himself immensely clever at "biding his time," as he used to say.