Читать книгу The Meadows of the Moon - James Hilton - Страница 20

Table of Contents

Not many days afterwards she went with John to the tannery; she had been before, but not since John had been in authority. He piloted her round the whole establishment and explained to her the various detailed processes in the manufacture of leather, gave her vast quantities of figures with enthusiastic glibness, and in describing the work and capacity of some of the newest tanning-pits became almost lyrical. His whole heart and intellect, Fran could see, were bound up with this incredibly ugly building with its incredibly ugly sights, sounds, and smells.

She had lunch with him in his office—a plain two-course meal from the canteen—“exactly the same meal that the workmen can buy for eightpence,” John proudly informed her. He told her then of the great and finally successful struggle he had had to rid the tannery of mismanagement and corruption. “It’s going to do well some day,” he said with smouldering enthusiasm. “We want smart work and smart men to do it. There’s a wonderful chance here for any young fellow with brains and enthusiasm. I wish Michael had either.”

She felt herself rallying instinctively to Michael’s defence. “He has both,” she said, “though they mayn’t be your kind.”

John smiled. “He’ll have to make a decision pretty soon, anyhow. I’m reckoning that he’s on his holidays at present—not that he’s earned any. I’m allowing him a month—till the beginning of September. After that I don’t intend to support him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I say. He persists in defying me. He can’t expect me to keep him in luxurious idleness. After next month he won’t live at Sky Peals unless he pays each month for his maintenance.”

She said slowly: “And what does—Nan—say—to that?”

“Mother,” he answered, emphasizing the word, “believes that I am treating Michael fairly and generously. To be forced to earn his own living (since he refuses to do so voluntarily) will be almost the best thing in the world for him. I’ve certainly no desire to turn him out of the house. I’d no desire to take him away from Oxford till his attitude compelled me to do so. Even now I’ll find him a decent job in this office if he wants one ... I assure you, Fran, I have absolutely no feeling of animosity at all, even if he has. And you, if you are wise, will try to influence him for his good.”

She felt, as always when John spoke to her, a certain sickening sense of defeat. John sounded so right, so utterly fair and reasonable. And yet—and yet—she could not help thinking of Michael. She left the works as soon after lunch as she could, feeling strangely unsettled.