Part 43 (2/2)
”No; she has two of her proteges with her and must keep with them.”
”Let 'em all come.”
”My dear Henry, did you see them?”
”I did catch sight of a brown bunch of a woman, certainly.”
”The brown bunch was Helen, but did you catch sight of a sea-green and salmon bunch?”
”What! are they out bean-feasting?”
”No; business. They wanted to see me, and later on I want to talk to you about them.”
She was ashamed of her own diplomacy. In dealing with a Wilc.o.x, how tempting it was to lapse from comrades.h.i.+p, and to give him the kind of woman that he desired! Henry took the hint at once, and said: ”Why later on? Tell me now. No time like the present.”
”Shall I?”
”If it isn't a long story.”
”Oh, not five minutes; but there's a sting at the end of it, for I want you to find the man some work in your office.”
”What are his qualifications?”
”I don't know. He's a clerk.”
”How old?”
”Twenty-five, perhaps.”
”What's his name?”
”Bast,” said Margaret, and was about to remind him that they had met at Wickham Place, but stopped herself. It had not been a successful meeting.
”Where was he before?”
”Dempster's Bank.”
”Why did he leave?” he asked, still remembering nothing.
”They reduced their staff.”
”All right; I'll see him.”
It was the reward of her tact and devotion through the day. Now she understood why some women prefer influence to rights. Mrs. Plynlimmon, when condemning suffragettes, had said: ”The woman who can't influence her husband to vote the way she wants ought to be ashamed of herself.”
Margaret had winced, but she was influencing Henry now, and though pleased at her little victory, she knew that she had won it by the methods of the harem.
”I should be glad if you took him,” she said, ”but I don't know whether he's qualified.”
”I'll do what I can. But, Margaret, this mustn't be taken as a precedent.”
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