A Stranger in Mayfair - Charles Finch [47]
She gazed at him unhappily. “I will, then,” she said at last.
Soon they went to bed, neither of them quite tranquil in their heart.
The next day was exceptionally busy for Lenox. After her long hours at Toto’s side, Lady Jane slept late, but he was awake and reading a blue book over eggs by six in the morning. There was a succession of meetings to attend; Graham had laid out what he needed to read before each of them, and as Lenox finished the last of his tea they spoke about each in turn.
It was difficult to be patient about cholera, but Graham would begin to canvass for support among the secretaries of other backbenchers. Listening to Graham’s strategies was an education for Lenox, who had believed—naively, and against all the evidence—that a good idea would always win out in politics. The murky world of favors, exchanges, and alliances was new to him, but Graham was already emerging as a master of it.
“How many days before I can take this to Hilary again, or Brick, or the Prime Minister?” asked Lenox as he was putting on his overcoat, ready to go to Whitehall.
“Parliament opens very shortly, sir. There will be a great deal of official business to accomplish, and people are often bursting with ideas in the first days, from everything I understand.”
Lenox nodded. “So I’ve heard. I don’t want to get lost in the shuffle of things.”
“No, sir, certainly not. I think we must wait a week or two. When we have support and the House has quieted down, and the less committed Members have returned to their clubs after their bursts of initial enthusiasm have subsided—then we may strike. I recall from your account of the conversation that Mr. Hilary laughed at the idea of you giving a speech in your first weeks.”
“He did.”
“Without support—as simply a wild gesture, sir—his incredulity at the thought of a speech might be correct. With the proper support, however, it could be powerful.”
Lenox nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps I’ll begin to write something out.”
“That would be wise, sir. As I understand it the best speeches are heavily revised and compressed, never off the cuff—very brief, full of conviction, even inspirational, but always with a practical bent.”
The detective laughed. “Yes. Although I’ve heard enough tales of new Members who write a perfect speech and forget every word of it the moment they stand up. Still, we must try.”
“Indeed, sir.”
After a long day of meetings—the most tedious was with a gentleman from Durham who represented northern farming concerns—at five o’clock Lenox was in his office. He was running through potential clerks, Graham at his side. They were all young, bright boys from middling backgrounds, the sons of merchants, schoolteachers, doctors, small landholders. A job as a clerk was moderately paid and, better still, might lead to a job as a personal secretary. Even if that route failed, a Member with influence could be a wonderful ally for a young gentleman hoping to make his career. There were jobs in the City, jobs in the colonies, government sinecures in Ireland and Scotland.
He had interviewed four boys and now was sitting across a desk from the fifth. This was by far his favorite. The lad, one Gordon Frabbs, was very young-looking, with pale blond hair and a dense of freckles on his cheeks. He had an earnest air about him and was cleverer by half than any of the other boys. He had Latin and some Greek, was excellent at sums, and could even draw skillfully. What weighed against him was his age—he was only fifteen, on the callow side for this sort of job—but otherwise Lenox approved. He wondered as they spoke whether Graham would agree.
“You can write a good hand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you read quickly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“With comprehension?”
“Yes, sir.”
He pushed Cranford across the table. “There, read the first chapter of that as quickly as you can, and I’ll ask you a few questions about it.”
Frabbs grabbed the book as quickly as if it were a life preserver and he was drowning, and began to scan the lines, biting his lip and with a look of immense concentration on his small