"Glad, Judith B. - Anonymous Amanuensis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Glad Judith B)

"Damn your stubbornness! Very well, I will, but I hope that we will not both come to regret it. Give me paper."
Eve relinquished her place at the desk. As Chas bent over the paper, thinking, brushing the tip of his nose with the quill, she watched him. How much better her uncle looked than he had those five months ago when he was carried into Elmwood, covered with bandages, white of face, and looking near death. And now he was about to return to duty.
She prayed that he would come through the war unscathed. If he were to be killed, there would be no one left in the world who loved her. But Chas could be of no more help her than her father, dead these five years. The youngest of four sons, Chas had no fortune of his own and certainly could not support a nearly destitute female.
Eve enjoyed her secretarial duties. Some of the Hadley wealth came from investments in the West Indies, and she enjoyed the correspondence with Sir AlfredТs agents there. What she minded was the lack of gratitude, AlfredТs assumption that she should be grateful that he provided her with a way to earn her keep.
Her keep, indeed! Her only new gowns in the past five years had been purchased out of her own meager inheritance. CharlotteТs frequent and snide comments about her healthy appetite showed that she was begrudged even the food she ate.
"There, for what itТs worth," Chas said, pushing a sheet of paper across the desk to her. She picked it up and read the letter her uncle had written.
To Whom It May Concern:
May I introduce my niece, Evelyn Dixon, as an honest and competent secretary. For the past five years, Miss Dixon has acted as amanuensis to Sir Wilfred Hadley, my late father. Her duties included correspondence with Sir WilfredТs agents in the West Indies and in Scotland, maintenance of the estate accounts, and management of the household budget. She writes a legible hand, is knowledgeable about estate management, and is capable of translating correspondence into Italian, French, German, and Dutch. I ask that you give her application for a position careful consideration.
Your servant,
Major Charles Hadley
Eve laid the letter back on the desk, uncertain what to say.
"WhatТs the matter, Eve? DonТt you like it?"
"Yes and no, Chas. It is an excellent letter, but I am not sure that you ought to claim me as your niece. You are bound to be thought prejudiced on my behalf. Perhaps you might rewrite it, make it more impersonal?"
Chas took the letter back and reread it. "I suppose you are in the right of it, Eve, though it galls me not to claim you as my relation." He again bent over the desk, writing. Soon he pushed a second sheet of paper across to her. This time Eve smiled as she finished reading it. Impersonal it was. There was no mention of her relationship to him or of her sex, just two short sentences describing her duties and her experience, a third listing her unusual linguistic skills.
"Very good, Chas. This should do the trick." She folded the letter and placed it in a portfolio. "Shall we ride before dinner, as usual?"
"Might as well. ItТll be our last chance until I return from the Peninsula. I want to get an early start for London tomorrow so I can see some friends before I head overseas."

CHAPTER ONE
London. December
"My dear young lady, no one would hire a femaleas a secretary. Why, the fairer sex is too emotional, too flighty for such a position of responsibility. And no mere woman possesses the intelligence for such demanding work. Is there nothing else that you might be suited for?"
"I could teach languages, sir, but I would prefer not to have to do so," Eve replied, hoping she didnТt sound as desperate as she felt.
This was the third registry office she had visited. There were only two more on her list.
"And why not?"
"I have little patience with children, particularly those who have no interest in learning. On the other hand, I have five yearsТ experience as a secretary to Sir Wilfred Hadley and he seemed pleased with my work. If you will only read this reference, you will see."
The man grudgingly took ChasТs letter and read it. Returning it to Eve, he said, "ThatТs all very well, Miss Dixon, but it does not change the fact that no gentleman, no, nor any merchant, would trust a woman with his business affairs. You would be much better off as a teacher. Or a governess or companion."
"Then you will not help me find employment, sir?"
"Not as a secretary. And I have no requests for teachers at present. You would do much better to consider going as a governess. The school terms are barely half over, and few openings for teachers are likely just now." He frowned at EveТs moueof distaste. "Come back in two or three months."
Eve thanked him and left, disappointed but not entirely without hope. She was still determined to be a secretary. She decided to write letters of inquiry to all the merchants and traders whose directions she could discoverЕ
Two months later, EveТs funds and her patience were both much reduced. Laughter, scorn, or improper advances had been the responses at each of the interviews she had had with City merchants and traders. No requests for language teachers had been received by any of the seven registry offices to which she had applied.
She had made some friends, but had little in common with most of the young women at the ladiesТ boarding house where she had a small room under the eaves. Only her friendship with Thomas Patterson was really close, and Eve was not sure if it was truly proper to be friends with a young man. But without Tom, her existence in London would be so lonely that she would not be able to stand it.
Eve met Tom Patterson at MartenТs registry office, during the second week of her stay in London. The cheerful young man was delivering a request for a chambermaid to the agency where Eve had just concluded another fruitless interview. The two struck up a conversation as they walked down the stairs together and discovered a mutual liking.
Tom, a younger son with noble connections, had dreams of someday standing for Parliament. In the meantime, he was employed by Lord Arduin, a prominent member of His MajestyТs government. And Tom was as lonely in London as Eve. They fell into the habit of taking supper together on his free evenings, or attending plays or the opera when Lord Arduin gave him tickets.
Tom had a carefree spirit and frequently made absurd suggestions for their activities. Once he tried to convince her that they should take a ride on a steamship. Another time he convinced her to don borrowed trousers and coat for a tour of an ironmongery. Tom also had a serious side and the two of them often indulged in long philosophical discussions as they wandered the streets of the West End together.
Eve finally admitted to herself that she would have to take a poorly paid position in a shop or crawl back to Elmwood and grovel before Alfred and Charlotte. She very much feared that the alternative might be starvation, for she refused to sell the few remaining pieces of her motherТs jewelry.
That same day, Tom imparted some information that gave her one last bit of hope.
"ItТs really too bad, Eve, that you are female, for I know that he would never engage your services. Otherwise you are completely qualified for the position."
"I beg your pardon, Tom," Even said. "I was woolgathering. What did you say? What position?"
"I was telling you about a secretarial position for which you are perfectly suited. I would be tempted to apply myself if I had the peculiar combination of skills that it requires. Mr. Quinton strikes me as being a most liberal employer." Tom leaned his chair back against the wall behind him and patted his waistcoat. "I fear I have eaten overmuch. But the cook here does concoct a delicious ragout of beef."
"Tom, you impossible boy! Who is Mr. Quinton and what is this position for which I am so suited?" Eve eyed him with exasperation. Sometimes his teasing ways maddened her.
"Mr. James Quinton engages in the spice and silk trades. I am somewhat acquainted with his present secretary, who is resigning his position to take a post in India. According to Alan, Mr. Quinton is more than a bit concerned about being able to find a replacement."
Eve took a last bite of her juicy pear and wiped the stickiness from her fingers. "There seems to be no shortage in London of young men qualified as secretaries. Why should this Mr. Quinton have a problem?"
"Because he requires that his secretary be able to translate his correspondence into Dutch and Italian, for you know that those countries are still the centers of the spice and silk trades. Because of the unsettled situation on the Continent, it seems Quinton is constrained to use foreign agents for much of his business. Alan said the volume of his correspondence is great and much of it is in those languages. It is really unfortunate that you are female."
"It is unfair, not unfortunate!" Eve had taken stock of her resources just that day and realized that she had only enough money for a few more weeks at the boarding house. "Is there no chance he might overlook my sex?"
"I doubt it. He is said to be a most proper gentleman. HeТs the heir to the Earl of Seabrooke, you know." Tom sipped the port that the waiter had brought to their cleared table. "I understand he holds females in the greatest dislike; wonТt even have a housekeeper. Alan believes it is because of his mother, whom he detests."
"How unnatural. He must be a most unlikable person."
"As to that, I cannot say. He pays very well, as well as providing extremely comfortable lodgings. But he is a sober sort, and has always treated Alan with the greatest formality. But come, Eve, why do we speak of this, since it can only depress you?"
Eve waited while Tom finished his port, then walked silently beside him through the busy streets as he escorted her back to her lodgings. She was beyond depressed, for he had held out to her the position she dreamed ofЕonly to snatch it away. Her good night to him was subdued.
Sleep was long in coming that night. She could return to Elmwood, but would have to abase herself, to beg CharlotteТs forgiveness. And AlfredЧhe would feed her a large helping of humble pie.
Once at Elmwood, Eve feared she would never, never be able to break away again.
Of course, she could always go as a shop girl, as did many of the young women who shared the boarding house. But they were pretty girls who could charm customers into spending their money. Would Eve, with her rather masculine looks and thin, almost spare figure, be able to charm anyone? She doubted it.