Читать книгу The Member And The Radical - John Galt - Страница 9

CHAPTER THREE

Next morning I had occasion to be forth at an early hour, to see some of my old friends at the Jerusalem, concerning a ballot that was that day to take place at the India House; and thus it came to pass, that before I got back to the hotel, a gentleman had called upon me, and not finding me at home, left his card, which was that of Mr. Probe the solicitor. I at first did not recollect the name, for it had been only once mentioned; but the waiter told me he would call again in the evening, having some particular private business to transact.

This intimation put me upon my guard, and then recollecting his name, I guessed the errand he had come upon, and told the waiter to prepare for us a private parlour; but in the meantime I would take my dinner in the public coffee-room.

The waiter, being an expert young man, ordered all things in a very perfect manner; and I had just finished my dinner when in came Mr. Probe; a smaller sort of man, with a costive and crimson countenance, sharp eyes, and cheeks smooth and well-stuffed: but one thing I remarked about him which I did not greatly admire, and yet could not say wherefore, namely, he had a black fore-tooth, as if addicted to the tobacco-pipe; and, moreover, although it could not be said that he was a corpulent man, he certainly was in a degree one of the fatties; but he was very polite and introductory, told me his name, how Mr. Curry had requested him to call, and was, in every respect, as couthy and pleasant as an evil spirit.

I desired the waiter to shew us up into the private room that was ordered, and bade him bring a bottle of Carbonnel’s claret – all which he soon did; and when Mr. Probe and I were comfortably seated, he opened the business.

‘Mr. Jobbry,’ said he, ‘our mutual friend, and my client, has told me that you might have some business in my way.’

‘My client!’ quo’ I to myself, – ‘mum,’ and then I continued – ‘He is an old friend of mine, and I was telling him that the time hung heavy upon my hands in the country——Oh! but that is not what I wished to speak to you about. I have a particular friend lately come from India, who is in the same condition: it’s far from my fortune, Mr. Probe, to think of going into Parliament; but my friend, who has a turn for public speaking, requested me, as I was coming to London, to see if a seat could be obtained on reasonable terms; and speaking on this subject to our mutual friend, Mr. Curry (I took care to say nothing of his client), he told me that you had a seat to dispose of, and that he would send you to me.’

‘Very correct,’ replied Mr. Probe; ‘but he made a little mistake – I have not a seat to dispose of; but a particular friend told me that he knew of one; and now I recollect of having once mentioned the subject to Mr. Curry.’

‘It’s very right to be guarded Mr. Probe,’ said I, ‘especially since the sales of seats in Parliament are as plain as the sun at noon-day, and would make the bones of our ancestors rattle in their coffins to hear of it: but although a seat may be come at by good handling, what would you, just in common parlance, think a fair——

‘Oh, Mr. Jobbry, we need not condescend on particulars; but my friend has certainly a capital sporting manor, and will either let it on lease for the remainder of his term, or for an annual rent.’

I patted the side of my nose with my forefinger, and said, in the jocular words of Burns,

‘But Tam kent what was what fu’ brauly;’

and added, ‘Very well, Mr. Probe, that’s a very judicious alternative; but what’s——I’ll not say what. Would it be expected that my friend would have to sit on the right or left hand of a man in a wig; or, in other words, to come to the point, would he have to be a sheep or a goat, for at present he’s an innocent lambkin, and unless there be a reason for it, he would naturally be a sheep. I’ll no say that he’ll ever be a battering-ram; but you understand, Mr. Probe?’

‘Your candour,’ was the reply, ‘is exceedingly satisfactory; but have you any notion of what your friend would give for the manor?’

‘I doubt,’ said I, ‘if he will come up to what our friend Curry said was the price.’

‘What did he say?’ inquired Mr. Probe.

‘Really I can’t tell, – I don’t recollect exactly, whether it was three or four thousand pounds.’

‘Not possible,’ exclaimed the solicitor, falling back in his chair with astonishment.

‘Oh,’ replied I, ‘it is very probable that I am in the wrong, now when I recollect that Parliament has only two sessions to run: you are very right, he could never have said so much as three or four thousand pounds – he must have been speaking of the price of a whole Parliament.’

‘Excuse me, Mr. Jobbry, you misunderstood him, – either three or four thousand pounds was quite ridiculous to mention in the same breath with a whole Parliament: no, sir, the price that I am instructed to arrange is for the two remaining sessions.’

‘Pray, Mr. Probe, is the gentleman in the House?’

‘He is, but he does not find it suit; and, between ourselves, although money is no object to him, he somehow has not felt himself at home, and so he has a mind to retire.’

‘Ay, he has, eh? did he ever say why, because that is a subject that my friend should consider?’

‘No, not particularly; but every man who thinks himself qualified does not find himself so, I imagine, when he once gets in.’

‘Then, if I understand you, Mr. Probe, your client——’

‘Not my client!’

‘Well, well; he wants, as I understand you, to dispose of the shooting for two years at an annual rent.’

‘Just so.’

‘And what may he expect, to make few words about it?’

‘A couple of thousand.’

‘What! for two years?’

‘No, not so: two thousand for the first year, and two thousand for the next, – four thousand in all, if the humbug lasts so long.’

‘Is that the name of the manor, Mr. Probe?’

‘Ah! you’re a wag, Mr. Jobbry.’

‘But one serious word, Mr. Probe: I am sure my friend will give no such price as two thousand pounds per session, – he only wants the seat for recreation: some people like horses, some hounds, some carriages, some one thing, and some another; and my friend’s taste is a seat in the senate; but he is a prudent man – he looks to both sides of the shilling before he spends it.’

‘I don’t know, Mr. Jobbry; but seats in the House of Commons are seats now: – I mean, the stalls in Smithfield are every year more valuable.’

‘Well, Mr. Probe, I can make you an offer for my friend, taking the risk of pleasing him upon myself: I can give, I mean for him, a thousand pounds; hear what your client says, and let me know the result: I would say guineas – for I really count on guineas; I wish, however, to have the fifty pounds for a margin – you understand.’

Such was the first consultation, and, considering that I was but a greenhorn in parliamenting, I certainly made an impression.