The Human Factor by Graham Greene Read Free Book Online Page A

wearing an air of courtesy like an old suit in which he would probably like to be buried. He wrote all his business letters in long-hand: he was busy on one of them now.
    â€˜A fine autumn morning, Mr Castle,’ Mr Halliday remarked, as he traced with great care the phrase ‘Your obedient servant’.
    â€˜There was a touch of frost this morning in the country.’
    â€˜A bit early yet,’ Mr Halliday said.
    â€˜I wonder if you’ve got a copy of War and Peace ? I’ve never read it. It seems about time for me to begin.’
    â€˜Finished Clarissa already, sir?’
    â€˜No, but I’m afraid I’m stuck. The thought of all those volumes to come . . . I need a change.’
    â€˜The Macmillan edition is out of print, but I think I have a clean second-hand copy in the World’s Classics in one volume. The Aylmer Maude translation. You can’t beat Aylmer Maude for Tolstoy. He wasn’t a mere translator, he knew the author as a friend.’ He put down his pen and looked regretfully at ‘Your obedient servant’. The penmanship was obviously not up to the mark.
    â€˜That’s the translation I want. Two copies of course.’
    â€˜How are things with you, if I may ask, sir?’
    â€˜My boy’s sick. Measles. Oh, nothing to worry about. No complications.’
    â€˜I’m very glad to hear that, Mr Castle. Measles in these days can cause a lot of anxiety. All well at the office, I hope? No crises in international affairs?’
    â€˜None I’ve been told about. Everything very quiet. I’m seriously thinking of retiring.’
    â€˜I’m sorry to hear that, sir. We need travelled gentlemen like you to deal with foreign affairs. They will give you a good pension, I trust?’
    â€˜I doubt it. How’s your business?’
    â€˜Quiet, sir, very quiet. Fashions change. I remember the 1940s, how people would queue for a new World’s Classic. There’s little demand today for the great writers. The old grow old, and the young – well, they seem to stay young a long time, and their tastes differ from ours . . . My son’s doing better than I am – in that shop over the road.’
    â€˜He must get some queer types.’
    â€˜I prefer not to dwell on it, Mr Castle. The two businesses remain distinct – I’ve always insisted on that. No policeman will ever come in here for what I would call, between you and me, a bribe. Not that any real harm can be done by the things the boy sells. It’s like preaching to the converted I say. You can’t corrupt the corrupt, sir.’
    â€˜One day I must meet your son.’
    â€˜He comes across in the evening to help me go over my books. He has a better head for figures than I ever had. We often speak of you, sir. It interests him to hear what you’ve been buying. I think he sometimes envies me the kind of clients I have, few though they are. He gets the furtive types, sir. They are not the ones to discuss a book like you and I do.’
    â€˜You might tell him I have an edition of Monsieur Nicolas which I want to sell. Not quite your cup of tea, I think.’
    â€˜I’m not so sure, sir, that it’s quite his either. It’s a sort of classic you must admit – the title is not suggestive enough for his customers, and it’s expensive. It would be described in a catalogue as erotica rather than curiosa . Of course he might find a borrower. Most of his books are on loan, you understand. They buy a book one day and change it the next. His books are not for keeps – like a good set of Sir Walter Scott used to be.’
    â€˜You won’t forget to tell him? Monsieur Nicolas .’
    â€˜Oh no, sir. Restif de la Bretonne. Limited edition. Published by Rodker. I have a memory like an encyclopaedia, so far as the older books are concerned. Will you take War and Peace with you? If you’ll allow me a five-minute search