Cabal (noun) – the contrived schemes of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also : a group engaged in such schemes.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabal

From “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

“We were a little disappointed that there was not a public blowing-off, but we believed that he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily’s coming, or to give her a chance to get rid of the cousins. (By that time it was a cabal, and we were all Miss Emily’s allies to help circumvent the cousins.)”

Here, the author uses the word cabal to show how all the people were trying to help Miss Emily avoid her cousins. Since cabal means to unite, the townspeople united to find a way to make the cousins leave.