The key word is "seemed." Compare Charles Gould phrasing his letter
so as to appeal to Holroyd's vanity.
In Part One of the novel, Unity was also based on subjective error or concealment,
like Charles Gould gaining Holroyd's support by letting himself be comprehended
into Holroyd's grand idealism. Here in Part Three, we have been through a cycle
of disillusionment, and the subjectivity of Union has a new flavor of deliberate,
cynical manipulation.