The Lorimer Line by Anne Melville Read Free Book Online Page A

said. ‘It should turn and sing. A gift for an emperor, I believe.’
    â€˜May I touch it?’
    Margaret smiled and gestured towards the cage to show that she herself was too small to reach it. David lifted it carefully off its high shelf, but kept it above his head so that he could study the bottom without tilting it.
    His attention was distracted for a moment by the sound of shouting in one of the rooms which led from the mainhall. The sound of John Junius’s voice raised in anger was a familiar one to all the staff of Lorimer’s, but David was surprised to hear it on a social occasion. As he looked towards the door a young man flung it open. He was only about seventeen, but tall for his age and already sporting a fine pair of side whiskers to match his golden hair. He wore a white blazer braided with dark blue and held himself well, a handsome, athletic figure. John Junius’s voice followed him and he flushed with anger as he realized that a stranger was within earshot. He closed the door and strode without speaking across the hall.
    â€˜My poor brother,’ said Margaret, laughing affectionately. ‘It is a difficult time for him. At school Ralph is a hero, almost a god, to the younger boys. Outside their classes the masters leave the boys very much to themselves, and the captain of cricket has only to call once and there will be a score of fags ready to do his errands. Unfortunately, his Greek marks are not as high as his cricket scores, and in his own home he is treated with less respect.’
    â€˜He might be happier as a boarder,’ suggested David.
    â€˜Undoubtedly he would. But my father was one of the men who founded the school. It was very soon after Ralph was born. One of the objects was to provide the sons of the Clifton community with a good Christian education without removing them from their homes. You touch that like an expert, Mr Gregson. Have you seen such an object before?’
    For the past few moments David had forgotten that he was still holding the cage, but during that time his fingers had caressed it with the special touch which his father had taught him. He wondered for a moment whether his hostess had any real interest in the answer to her question. But she had asked it, so he replied.
    â€˜My father was blinded in the Crimean War,’ he said. ‘He was a locksmith before he went for a soldier, and whenhe returned he found he could still practise his old skills. Where delicate mechanisms were concerned he had the ability to see with his fingers and ears. Something of that I’ve inherited. I’ve never rationally understood it, any more than he did. It’s like the gift of healing, but applied in this case to cog-wheels.’
    He had thought she might laugh, but instead she watched with fascination as without looking down at the cage he opened it and began to stroke the tiny bird upwards with his finger tips.
    â€˜And he allowed you to waste these gifts on accountancy?’ she asked.
    â€˜I was apprenticed to a watchmaker as a lad,’ David admitted. ‘But most of my master’s business was in the importing and resale of clocks, and he soon found me more useful at keeping the books.’
    He had sent David at his own expense, in fact, to study book-keeping, and for two years the young apprentice had been able to earn a small but useful income in his free time, assisting several local tradesmen who were clumsy with figures to keep their accounts in order. This had brought him into frequent contact with the manager of the local bank, who recognized the young man’s ability first by offering employment on his own staff and later by recommending him for promotion to the head office in Edinburgh. It was the experience he had gained in the Scottish capital which had encouraged David to apply for his present responsible position at Lorimer’s. However, he could not expect his hostess to be interested in all that. He