[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
shelter of darkness, he could stop pretending and
tell Harry how he really felt about him.
Dropping his cigarette butt, Harrison ground it
deeply into the soil. "I can help you, if you'll let me."
"How? What can you do?"
"Invite me to dinner tomorrow night and we can
discuss it then."
Relief that Harrison still considered their
friendship intact coloured Daniel's voice. "Well,
since the rent has been paid, Mrs Foxley should be
quite willing to provide us with a decent meal."
Harrison smiled at the comment. "Mrs Foxley
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and I get on very well," he remarked easily. He
stood up and looked towards the house. "I should go
back in," he added, reluctance obvious in his tone.
"Yes, I've kept you from your family for far too
long." Daniel held out his hand. "Thank you for
everything, Harry."
Harrison's grip was firm, his skin warm, Daniel
fought down his emotions. "Will six-thirty tomorrow
be too early?"
Harrison shook his head in reply. "No, not at all.
I'll see you then."
He left then, and Daniel watched until the front
door had closed behind him before beginning his
walk back down the hill towards Duke Street.
The following morning Harrison stared out of
the window, his view of the street partly obscured
by gold lettering that advertised the presence of his
office. On the desk behind him a scatter of papers
waited to be turned into a contract between
Calderwood Shipping and a local sugar-refiner, but
he had little enthusiasm for the project.
Interrupted by a knock at the door, he reluctantly
left the window and went to sit behind his desk.
"Come in."
Mason handed over the latest delivery of letters
and glanced at the disarray of papers in the room.
"You have remembered, sir, that Mr Robins is
calling to see you this afternoon?"
"Yes, I'll have everything sorted out and ready for
copying well before then. Please, Mason, sit down
for a minute; I need to talk to you."
Mason sat in the chair which was normally used
93
by Harrison's clients. "Sir?" he asked.
Harrison came straight to the point. "I want to
employ Daniel Harper," he said.
"Yes, sir," replied Mason cautiously.
"I have to tell you that he knows very little about
the sort of work we do here."
"I'm sure he could learn, sir," said his clerk,
although his tone did not sound as thought he was
entirely convinced.
"So am I. What I want you to tell me, though, is
whether you think it will cause problems with the
other clerks. Also, if we take him on, I'd need you to
smooth his way as much as you reasonably can."
Mason considered the situation carefully. "I don't
foresee any great difficulty, sir, as long as there is
no preferential treatment."
"There won't be." Harrison shuffled the papers
together into a pile. "I'm hoping he will eventually
be your successor." He looked up and smiled.
"When you've finally had enough of putting up with
me, that is."
"Are you suggesting it's time I retired, sir?" asked
Mason, confused by the remark.
"Certainly not; I value your experience far too
much. No, it's simply that I know I can trust Mr
Harper as much as I trust you, and I would like him
to be ready to take over your post whenever the
time does come."
"I have been giving Mr Ellwood extra duties, sir,
with that eventuality in mind."
"But you've said nothing to him about it?
Formally, I mean?"
"No, sir."
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"And are you willing to take Harper under your
wing? Discreetly, of course."
"Yes, sir, I am."
"Thank you. Then I'll speak to him tonight and
let you know if he agrees. Right now, I think I had
better get on with this."
Mason stood up to go, but did not leave
immediately. "Are you sure you're doing the right
thing, Mr Calderwood?" he asked worriedly.
Meeting his chief clerk's concerned gaze,
Harrison shook his head slightly. "No, but it's the
only thing I can think of to do."
That evening Elizabeth closed her book with a
sigh. She had hoped the troubles of The Lady of
Shallot would take her mind off her own, but it had
not worked. There was going to be more trouble;
she felt it in the air like an impending storm.
The previous evening had been extremely
difficult, and Harrison going out into the square to
speak to Daniel had only served to infuriate Todd.
She knew it wasn't only the social inequality
between the two men that he disapproved of,
although to him that was bad enough; Harper's
ideology, though, was far worse. Todd could
imagine no good outcome from the friendship and
was clearly very worried about his brother, about
the effect it would have on the family as a whole
and, she had to admit, on his own political
ambitions. Harrison's announcement that he would
not be having dinner with the family tonight but
dining with Daniel and his son instead had made
things even worse.
95
She put the book to one side as Harrison came
in, already dressed to go out. The Harpers, like
themselves, kept old-fashioned hours and dined
early.
"Is Todd not home yet?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
He looked troubled. "I wanted to talk to you both
before I went out."
"Harrison & " The sound of the doorbell
interrupted her and, hearing Todd's voice in the
hall, Elizabeth immediately abandoned what she
had been going to say.
Striding across the room, Todd bent to kiss his
mother's cheek, nodding shortly to Harrison and
pouring himself a glass of brandy. "It's turning
cold," he remarked.
"Todd?"
He turned to face Harrison. "I suppose you are
still resolved to go down to Duke Street?"
"Daniel is expecting me. And do you have to
make it sound as if he lives in the worst of the
courts? His lodgings are perfectly respectable."
Elizabeth spoke quickly, before Todd could reply.
"Harrison wants to tell us something, Todd," she
said.
"What else could there possibly be?" muttered
Todd irritably, sitting down and stretching long legs
towards the warmth of the fire.
"Only that I'm going to offer Daniel a job in the
practice," replied his brother, in a firm but quiet
tone.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, realising that she
ought to have seen this coming and done
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something to prepare Todd to receive the news.
Todd stood up and turned to face Harrison.
"Have you no regard at all for this family?" he
demanded, sounding injured.
"It has nothing to do with the family," replied
Harrison placidly. "The shipping business is your
province, but the law office is wholly mine."
"And you can do whatever you like with it, so
why ask us about it at all?"
Elizabeth watched the two of them, impressed by
the way Harrison was managing to control his
temper. "I'm not asking you. I'm informing you of
the decision I have taken."
"He'll have your clerks on strike before the year
is out," prophesied Todd.
"They're too well paid to bother going on strike,"
Harrison retorted, wryly.
"You haven't asked Daniel yet, I take it?" queried
Elizabeth, attempting to calm the atmosphere in the
room.
"No, I'm going to ask him tonight."
"And what if he refuses?" she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders slightly in confusion.
"Todd will be happy, anyway."
"But not you?"
Harrison made no attempt to answer her
question. "I have to go," he said instead. "I wanted
you both to know what I was planning." He bent to
kiss his mother's forehead. "Don't worry about me, I
know what I'm doing. At least, I think I do."
After he had gone there was a heavy silence in
the room, broken at last by Elizabeth. "I don't like
all these arguments," she said, although her tone
97
was far from critical.
Todd shrugged slightly, a movement very like his
brother's. "And you think I do?"
"I want you to stop arguing, Todd - at least about
this one subject. Daniel Harper's friendship means
a lot to Harry and I don't want to see him hurt."
"Neither do I, but I can't help thinking that
Harper will let him down in the end." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
shelter of darkness, he could stop pretending and
tell Harry how he really felt about him.
Dropping his cigarette butt, Harrison ground it
deeply into the soil. "I can help you, if you'll let me."
"How? What can you do?"
"Invite me to dinner tomorrow night and we can
discuss it then."
Relief that Harrison still considered their
friendship intact coloured Daniel's voice. "Well,
since the rent has been paid, Mrs Foxley should be
quite willing to provide us with a decent meal."
Harrison smiled at the comment. "Mrs Foxley
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and I get on very well," he remarked easily. He
stood up and looked towards the house. "I should go
back in," he added, reluctance obvious in his tone.
"Yes, I've kept you from your family for far too
long." Daniel held out his hand. "Thank you for
everything, Harry."
Harrison's grip was firm, his skin warm, Daniel
fought down his emotions. "Will six-thirty tomorrow
be too early?"
Harrison shook his head in reply. "No, not at all.
I'll see you then."
He left then, and Daniel watched until the front
door had closed behind him before beginning his
walk back down the hill towards Duke Street.
The following morning Harrison stared out of
the window, his view of the street partly obscured
by gold lettering that advertised the presence of his
office. On the desk behind him a scatter of papers
waited to be turned into a contract between
Calderwood Shipping and a local sugar-refiner, but
he had little enthusiasm for the project.
Interrupted by a knock at the door, he reluctantly
left the window and went to sit behind his desk.
"Come in."
Mason handed over the latest delivery of letters
and glanced at the disarray of papers in the room.
"You have remembered, sir, that Mr Robins is
calling to see you this afternoon?"
"Yes, I'll have everything sorted out and ready for
copying well before then. Please, Mason, sit down
for a minute; I need to talk to you."
Mason sat in the chair which was normally used
93
by Harrison's clients. "Sir?" he asked.
Harrison came straight to the point. "I want to
employ Daniel Harper," he said.
"Yes, sir," replied Mason cautiously.
"I have to tell you that he knows very little about
the sort of work we do here."
"I'm sure he could learn, sir," said his clerk,
although his tone did not sound as thought he was
entirely convinced.
"So am I. What I want you to tell me, though, is
whether you think it will cause problems with the
other clerks. Also, if we take him on, I'd need you to
smooth his way as much as you reasonably can."
Mason considered the situation carefully. "I don't
foresee any great difficulty, sir, as long as there is
no preferential treatment."
"There won't be." Harrison shuffled the papers
together into a pile. "I'm hoping he will eventually
be your successor." He looked up and smiled.
"When you've finally had enough of putting up with
me, that is."
"Are you suggesting it's time I retired, sir?" asked
Mason, confused by the remark.
"Certainly not; I value your experience far too
much. No, it's simply that I know I can trust Mr
Harper as much as I trust you, and I would like him
to be ready to take over your post whenever the
time does come."
"I have been giving Mr Ellwood extra duties, sir,
with that eventuality in mind."
"But you've said nothing to him about it?
Formally, I mean?"
"No, sir."
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"And are you willing to take Harper under your
wing? Discreetly, of course."
"Yes, sir, I am."
"Thank you. Then I'll speak to him tonight and
let you know if he agrees. Right now, I think I had
better get on with this."
Mason stood up to go, but did not leave
immediately. "Are you sure you're doing the right
thing, Mr Calderwood?" he asked worriedly.
Meeting his chief clerk's concerned gaze,
Harrison shook his head slightly. "No, but it's the
only thing I can think of to do."
That evening Elizabeth closed her book with a
sigh. She had hoped the troubles of The Lady of
Shallot would take her mind off her own, but it had
not worked. There was going to be more trouble;
she felt it in the air like an impending storm.
The previous evening had been extremely
difficult, and Harrison going out into the square to
speak to Daniel had only served to infuriate Todd.
She knew it wasn't only the social inequality
between the two men that he disapproved of,
although to him that was bad enough; Harper's
ideology, though, was far worse. Todd could
imagine no good outcome from the friendship and
was clearly very worried about his brother, about
the effect it would have on the family as a whole
and, she had to admit, on his own political
ambitions. Harrison's announcement that he would
not be having dinner with the family tonight but
dining with Daniel and his son instead had made
things even worse.
95
She put the book to one side as Harrison came
in, already dressed to go out. The Harpers, like
themselves, kept old-fashioned hours and dined
early.
"Is Todd not home yet?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
He looked troubled. "I wanted to talk to you both
before I went out."
"Harrison & " The sound of the doorbell
interrupted her and, hearing Todd's voice in the
hall, Elizabeth immediately abandoned what she
had been going to say.
Striding across the room, Todd bent to kiss his
mother's cheek, nodding shortly to Harrison and
pouring himself a glass of brandy. "It's turning
cold," he remarked.
"Todd?"
He turned to face Harrison. "I suppose you are
still resolved to go down to Duke Street?"
"Daniel is expecting me. And do you have to
make it sound as if he lives in the worst of the
courts? His lodgings are perfectly respectable."
Elizabeth spoke quickly, before Todd could reply.
"Harrison wants to tell us something, Todd," she
said.
"What else could there possibly be?" muttered
Todd irritably, sitting down and stretching long legs
towards the warmth of the fire.
"Only that I'm going to offer Daniel a job in the
practice," replied his brother, in a firm but quiet
tone.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, realising that she
ought to have seen this coming and done
96
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something to prepare Todd to receive the news.
Todd stood up and turned to face Harrison.
"Have you no regard at all for this family?" he
demanded, sounding injured.
"It has nothing to do with the family," replied
Harrison placidly. "The shipping business is your
province, but the law office is wholly mine."
"And you can do whatever you like with it, so
why ask us about it at all?"
Elizabeth watched the two of them, impressed by
the way Harrison was managing to control his
temper. "I'm not asking you. I'm informing you of
the decision I have taken."
"He'll have your clerks on strike before the year
is out," prophesied Todd.
"They're too well paid to bother going on strike,"
Harrison retorted, wryly.
"You haven't asked Daniel yet, I take it?" queried
Elizabeth, attempting to calm the atmosphere in the
room.
"No, I'm going to ask him tonight."
"And what if he refuses?" she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders slightly in confusion.
"Todd will be happy, anyway."
"But not you?"
Harrison made no attempt to answer her
question. "I have to go," he said instead. "I wanted
you both to know what I was planning." He bent to
kiss his mother's forehead. "Don't worry about me, I
know what I'm doing. At least, I think I do."
After he had gone there was a heavy silence in
the room, broken at last by Elizabeth. "I don't like
all these arguments," she said, although her tone
97
was far from critical.
Todd shrugged slightly, a movement very like his
brother's. "And you think I do?"
"I want you to stop arguing, Todd - at least about
this one subject. Daniel Harper's friendship means
a lot to Harry and I don't want to see him hurt."
"Neither do I, but I can't help thinking that
Harper will let him down in the end." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]