"Brookmyre, Christopher - Boiling A Frog" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brookmyre Christopher)

concern, and to prove it, Elspeth's suggested solution was
to raise the heterosexual age to an equal eighteen, thus not
prejudicing anyone.
Aye,' Beadie said with a sigh. 'It's a sad day when they're
sacrificing talents like yours on the altar of political correctness.
You'll forgive the religious nature of my imagery,
I hope. But it's not just your talents they're undervaluing. I
think they're so over-run with arse-bandits, they don't realise the general
public - and especially the Scottish public -
are a sight closer to your views on certain subjects.'
'You could choose your terms more diplomatically, Ian.'
'You know what I mean. There's a lot of concerned
parents out there, Elspeth. Me among them. I hate to think
of my Cameron havin' his heid filled with ideas he's no'
equipped to handle, an' startin' to think he's somethin' he's
not just because he's confused. All teenagers are confused.
You don't know what the hell's happenin' to your body or
your mind at that age.
'I know, I know. I suppose I could have spun it better
if I'd had kids myself. Then I could come across like a
concerned mother. As it is, I've just been painted as some
frigid, shrewish stick-in-the-mud, and I've been marked
down accordingly.'
Beadie's eyes narrowed and he stubbed out his cigar.
He had that look about him which suggested he either
disagreed or hadn't been listening, and was now ready to
lay down whatever he'd been mulling over.
'I know you're too sore the now to see it any other way,
but maybe you shouldn't be so sure it's a snub.'
This sounded like another devil's advocate wind-up,
something Beadie specialised in. She wasn't in the mood;
though admittedly this was because she was, as he said,
too sore.
'Oh come on, Ian. It's not as if they passed me over for
the cabinet because they've somethin' bigger in mind.'
'Well, yes and no. Bigger for them, perhaps, not for
you. What I meant was, the reason they didnae promote
you wasn't necessarily about slappin' you on the wrist. It
could have been about keepin' you out of the way. Maybe
they've got some policies up their sleeve that they don't
want the likes of you meddling with. Have you thought
about that?'
Elspeth lifted her glass to her lips. There was barely a
sip left in it, but she was really only using it as a prop,
a distraction with which to buy a few seconds. This time
Beadie really was angling for her to cough something,
but angry as she was, it took more than dinner and a
sympathetic ear to soften her self-discipline.
'No comment, Mr Beadie.'
Beadie laughed, but there was still business behind the