Lanark_ a life in 4 books - Alasdair Gray [208]
“Gay?” said Sludden ruefully. “I hoped you could tell me about Gay. The marriage didn’t work. My fault, I’m afraid; politics puts strain on a marriage. She joined the institute. The last I heard of her was that she had gone to work for the council. If you didn’t see her in the corridors she’s probably with a foundation group, Cortexin perhaps. She had a talent for communications.”
Lanark felt baffled and feeble. He wanted to hate Sludden but couldn’t think of a reason for doing it. He said accusingly, “I saw Nan and her baby.”
“Rima told me. I’m glad they’re well,” said Sludden, smiling and nodding.
“The committee is convened,” said Ritchie-Smollet. “Please be seated.”
People moved to the walls and sat down. Sludden took a chair with a high carved back and armrests; Ritchie-Smollet led Lanark to a seat on Sludden’s right and himself sat on his left. Grant sat beside Lanark. Ritchie-Smollet said, “Silence, please. The internal secretary has failed to make an appearance, so once again we must take the minutes of the last meeting as read. Never mind. The reason for the present meeting is …. but I call on our chairman, provost Sludden, to explain that.”
“We are privileged to have among us,” said Sludden, “a former citizen of Unthank who till recently worked for the institute under the famous—perhaps I should say infamous—Ozenfant. Lanark—here he is beside me—has elected to return here of his own free will, which is no doubt a testimonial to the charm and friendliness of Unthank but proves also the strength of his own patriotic spirit.”
Sludden paused. Ritchie-Smollet cried, “Oh, jolly good!” and clapped his hands. Sludden said, “I understand he has had personal consultations with Monboddo.”
A voice behind the pillar shouted, “Shame!”
“Monboddo certainly has no friends here, but information about where Unthank stands in the council is hard to obtain, so we welcome any source of light on the subject. Also with me is Grant, sufficiently known to us all.”
A voice behind the pillar shouted, “Up the makers, Poly!” “Grant feels he has important news for us. I don’t know what it is, but I suppose it will keep till we have heard our guest speaker?”
Sludden looked at Grant, who shrugged.
“So I will call on Lanark to take the floor.”
Lanark rose confusedly to his feet. He said, “I’m not sure what to say. I’m not patriotic. I don’t like Unthank, I like sunshine. I came here because I was told Unthank would be scrapped and swallowed in a few days, and anybody here with a council passport would be transferred to a sunnier city.” He sat down. There was silence, then Ritchie-Smollet said,
“Monboddo told you this?”
“No, one of his secretaries did. A man called Wilkins.”
“I strongly object to the tone of the last speaker’s remarks,” cried a bulky, thick-necked man in a voice twice as penetrating as Grant’s.
“Though he openly boasts of being no friend to Unthank, our provost has introduced him as if he was some sort of ambassador, and what news does the ambassador bring? Gossip. Nothing but gossip. The mountain has laboured and given birth to a small obnoxious rodent. But what is the tendency of the speech by this self-proclaimed enemy of the city which nurtured him? He tells us that after some vague but imminent doomsday those who carry a council passport will be transferred to a happier land while the majority are swallowed, whatever that means. I will, however, say this. I have a council passport, like several others on the committee, and like the speaker himself. His statements are clearly devised to spread distrust among our brothers and dismay and dissension in our rank and file. Let me assure this messianic double agent that he will not succeed. Nobody is better able to fight the council than men like Scougal and me. We love our people. We will sink or swim with Unthank. Meanwhile I propose that the committee combat the demoralizing tendency of the guest speaker’s tirade by pretending we never heard it.”
“Oh, not a tirade, Gow!” said Ritchie-Smollet mildly. “Lanark spoke four short sentences.