NO names, no pack drill, but over dinner the other night a senior Tory confided a shocking secret. He had written recently to John Major about certain policy matters to be developed after the general election.
The MP in question is a serious fellow. A year ago he would not have wasted the time or the paper. He had backed the Prime Minister in the leadership contest against John Redwood, but more or less written off the possibility of a fifth term the year before that.
And if he is a barometer of the underlying mood in the Conservative Party, then something significant has happened or, at any rate, is happening.
The important point is that this MP's renewed hope (for it is not yet confidence) is unrelated to the buoyant mood generated by an unexpectedly successful party conference here in Bournemouth. The advisory memo was written weeks ago.
It is salutary to recall that even at the start of this week, Mr Major and his chairman, Dr Brian Mawhinney, stared catastrophe in the face. Tony Blair had swept to triumph in Blackpool, routing the left while continuing his plunder of traditional Tory ground.
The collapse of the Neil Hamilton libel action, and a deluge of fresh revelations about the relationship between MPs and lobbyist Ian Greer, revived the lethal perception of Tory "sleaze".
Mr Redwood, Mr Lamont, Lord Tebbit and company appeared determined to reopen the civil war over Europe, challenging Mr Major to lose a Chancellor in order to win the election.
On the eve of the conference Lord Tebbit insisted the cabinet's "wait and see" approach to the European single currency could not survive the heat of an election campaign. He and others seemed to believe they could force the Prime Minister to rule out British participation for the life of the next parliament. If the price of that was Kenneth Clarke's resignation they reckoned it a small price to pay.
It was the stuff of serious delusion. Mr Clarke's departure from the cabinet would almost certainly have triggered others. Quite apart from the effect on the markets, enough pro European MPs would have been prepared to defect, blowing what remains of the government's Commons majority, forcing an early election with the certain result of a Labour victory.
But then many on the Thatcherite wing seem almost impatient for such an outcome. Long disenchanted with Mr Major, they believe a period of opposition necessary to rediscover the party's soul. The sense was that this week would see a parade of those preparing themselves for the succession battle.
Asked to predict the top performers of the week, most commentators would have reeled off the predictable names: Michael Portillo, Michael Howard, Peter Lilley, John Redwood. Few could have imagined that, Mr Major apart, the two star performances would come from the Foreign Secretary. Malcolm Rifkind, and the embattled Chancellor.
Mr Clarke's big speech was the platform's high danger point, but he played a blinder. He told them bluntly tax cuts bad to be affordable. But he reassured them tax cuts, for the Tories, had to be "for keeps".
Relieved by this hint that Mr Clarke knew his pre election duty, the Euro sceptics suspended their disbelief as he counted himself among opponents of the federal superstate. And they bought his vigorous defence of the agreed cabinet line on the currency issue: "When we do decide, Britain's choice will be free. By staying in the game, we sacrifice nothing and we gain much. At every stage, we will have the right to say No.".
However, the real buzz from Mr Clarke was his exhortation that they should fight the election on the economy, and his assurance that Labour would prefer to fight on any other ground.
The Labour leadership tacitly admits it hopes to inherit a healthy set of economic conditions. The Tory charge is that Labour would wreck the enterprise economy. And between now and the election we will hear repeated, again and again, Mr Clarke's declaration that it is because of 17 years in power, not despite them, that the Conservatives must be returned for a fifth term.
By the time Mr Major took centre stage yesterday, the "unity, unity, unity" demanded by Michael Portillo was treated as an accomplished fact. Mr Major hailed the week the family came together to renew "the family contract" with the country.
Will the country believe them? Will this week's unity hold? Can it in any event, make the difference at this stage? Tory fight backs before have notoriously ended in reversal. It remains to be seen if the Tory press will be satisfied with the "clear blue water" between Labour and Conservative over Europe.
The report on "sleaze" could be explosively timed for the final run up to the general election. But, for the moment at least, this most successful election winning machine appears convinced it is back in contention.
A presidential contest beckons with "plain, ordinary, honest John" pitched against the "smarmy" Islington product of the public school. On policy, too, devolution. Europe and tax, there are the obvious makings of a Conservative campaign. At the very least, senior Tory MP left Bournemouth believing Mr Blair's lead would now start to shrink. Mr Blair was plainly wise to warn his party against complacency.