"Tom Purdom-A Proper Place To Live" - читать интересную книгу автора (Purdom Tom)

Lady Millicent. as Sir Harold had frequently noted with some satisfaction, knew how to take full
advantage of her powers.
 Some of the people around him had started shaking their fists at Mr. Tyler's windows and some of
them had started dancing and capering with infuriatingly satisfied looks on their faces, but no one
interfered with him as he skirted the edge of the crowd near the pulpit. A few men even touched their
foreheads and mouthed something that was obviously a good day, sir. Two or three women dimpled and
presented him with their prettiest curtsies when he lifted his hat and gave them a smile.
The crowd immediately in front of him parted before the gentle pressure of his stick. He looked up at
the orating clergyman and presented his card with a bow and a very eighteenth century sweep of his
headgear.
"Excuse me, old fellow. If I might have a word with you...."
Mr. Herbert, like Mr. Tyler, looked startled and a little confused.
"I really would appreciate it," Sir Harold said. "If you would be so kind...."
The clergyman might indeed love the Lord -- Sir Harold had no doubt that he did, in fact -- but he
too, like most of his countrymen, apparently found it hard to resist a lord. He descended from his perch
after a few hasty excuses and Sir Harold led him toward a small alley located between two houses.
Three young ladies of the highest status came around the corner as they reached the end of the alley
and strolled past them with their parasols framing their faces. They were of varying heights and hair colors
but they were each enough to make Sir Harold lean on his cane and look appreciative and they all smiled
in return as they passed. A quick glance at Mr. Herbert indicated, however, that he had hardly noticed
their existence.
"I would appreciate it, Sir Harold, if you would tell me what you have in mind. I believe my flock is
already getting restless."
A motion of Sir Harold's cane had brought the smiling trio back for another pass but there was still no
flicker of a gleam on Mr. Herbert's face. There were only a few reasons, Sir Harold believed, why
people engaged in the kind of activity Mr. Herbert was indulging in, and it didn't take long to eliminate
most of them. An offer of a large sum of money for unspecified services was immediately refused on the
grounds that Mr. Herbert was occupied with causes that could not be abandoned for any purpose. So,
too, was a fine position on the board of one of the leading charities supported by Mr. Herbert's
denomination.
That left -- alas -- only one serious possibility, in Sir Harold's opinion. What Mr. Herbert most wanted
was what he had here today.
"I'm really most sorry you feel that way, Mr. Herbert." Sir Harold said. "Lady Millicent and I have
been deeply impressed with your actions. We came here, in fact, largely because of your presence."
"Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Now if you will excuse me, my flock...."
"I am associated with a number of important enterprises, Mr. Herbert. I cannot leave a man of your
ability without making one more attempt to recruit his talents in the service of at least one of them. I
would especially like to offer you, sir, a lively and responsible post in the Society for the Encouragement
of Public Cleanliness and Decency or the Society for the Improvement of the Manners of the Lower
Orders. You could do valuable work in either of them, in my opinion. Or both, if you felt you could
sacrifice that much of your time to the betterment of the world."
Mr. Herbert paused with his body braced for one more attempt to slip sideways and somehow
maneuver himself past the indolent gentleman whose person and cane always seemed to come between
him and his pulpit. The expression on Mr. Herbert's face made it quite clear he was aware that both of
the organizations Sir Harold had mentioned had been involved in public disturbances in the last fortnight.
Only two days ago, twenty of the leading members of the Society for the Improvement of the Manners of
the Lower Orders had been set upon with paving stones and flower pots when they had held a
lecture-meeting in Mixers Cross; their arrest and imprisonment had initiated a series of judicial actions
that might keep the courts occupied for two decades.
"Both of those organizations need the kind of ability you can bring to them," Sir Harold said. "At this