George Passant by C. P. Snow Read Free Book Online

turn it appointed this one, ad hoc : and so Beddow took the chair. He, with Calvert on his right and the Principal on his left, sat looking towards the door, on the same side of the committee table: the Canon and Miss Geary occupied the ends of it. I worked at the smaller table behind theirs, and within reach of the Principal and Beddow.
    The Principal read the minutes (I was there purely to record) and then Miss Geary interrupted.
    ‘Can we take No. 6 first, Mr Chairman?’ No. 6 on the agenda read: ‘J Cotery. Termination of Bursary.’ ‘I believe Mr Passant wishes to make a statement. And I noticed that he was waiting in the staffroom.’
    ‘I suggest that the first three items cannot conveniently wait,’ said the Principal promptly. Beddow looked round the table.
    ‘I think the feeling of the meeting is for taking those three items first,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Geary: we shan’t waste any unnecessary time.’
    The three items were, in fact, mainly routine – fees for a new course in architecture, scholarships for next year. The clock on the Principal’s desk was striking the third quarter when Beddow said: ‘That polishes off your urgent business, doesn’t it? Well, I suppose we’re obliged to get No. 6 over some time. Perhaps this would be a convenient opportunity to have Mr Passant in.’
    The Principal said nothing. Beddow went on: ‘But, before I do ring for him, I should like to say something that we all feel. We are all more than sorry that Mr Calvert should be put in the position of having to listen to criticism – criticism of whether he should continue to pay an employee’s fees or not. Perhaps he’ll let me assure him, as a political opponent, that he has the reputation of being one of the best employers in this city. We all know that he has originated the very scheme over which he is being forced to listen to – unfortunate criticism. Perhaps I can say that one of the compensations for educational work in the city is the privilege of meeting men like Mr Calvert – political opponents though they may be – round the same friendly table.’
    The Principal produced a loud, deliberate ‘Hear, hear.’ Calvert gave a quick, embarrassed smile, and went on scribbling on the pad of foolscap in front of him.
    Beddow rang the bell: George was shown in.
    ‘Ah, sit down there, Mr Passant. I’m sorry we’ve had to keep you so long,’ Beddow, with his brisk, friendly smile. His affability was genuine at the root, but had become practised as he found it useful. He pointed out a small cane-bottomed chair on the other side of the table. George sat down; he was isolated from the others; they all looked at him.
    ‘I’ll now ask the Principal,’ said Beddow, ‘to speak to this business of the bursary.’
    ‘This is really a very ordinary matter, Mr Chairman,’ said the Principal. ‘The Committee is aware of the conditions on which our bursaries are awarded. Owing to the inspiration of our benefactor, Mr Calvert’ – the Canon smiled across at Calvert – ‘various employers in the town have co-operated with us in paying the fees of young men of promise. No one has ever contemplated that this arrangement could not be cancelled in any particular case, if there appeared adequate reason to the employer or ourselves. There are several precedents. The present case is entirely straightforward. Cotery, the man in question, has been sent here by Mr Calvert; his course normally would extend over three years, of which he has completed one. But Mr Calvert has decided that there is no likelihood of his being able to use Cotery in a position for which this course would qualify him; and so, in the man’s own best interests, he considers that his bursary here should be discontinued. Several of these cases, as I say, have been reported to the committee in previous years. The committee has always immediately approved the employer’s recommendation.’
    ‘As the Principal has told us,’ Beddow said,