Читать книгу The Dawn of Reckoning - James Hilton - Страница 25

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Philip had another year at Cambridge. It became his ambition to console himself for a third-class degree by taking one of the big University prizes. Work for this, in the form of a thesis, could be done at leisure, and without the nerve-racking tension of the examination-room. He entered for the Albert Historical Prize, and was asked to submit the subject on which he proposed to write a thesis. He chose "The Political Aspects of the Industrial Revolution." After a year of careful work he sent in his thesis and waited eagerly for the result.

It came, and he learned that he had got an "honourable mention." "Your work was very sound and painstaking," he was told privately, "but several of the examiners found it a little tedious. It would have been a good thing if you had compelled yourself to compress it to two-thirds of its length. The winning thesis was very short—and also very brilliant."

Stella, of course, understood nothing of all this. Neither degrees nor University Prizes meant anything to her. And in a way, this was a slight—a very slight consolation.