Before the War Read Online Free

paucity of salary. And Sir Jeremy, since his recent elevation to the knighthood, has turned, say all, into a moral sadist who will deliver a blow to any cheek turned to him, just as a moral masochist might turn his cheek to accept any blow. Sir Jeremy must find pleasure in tormenting Sherwyn, or why would he do it?
    The Life Of The Publisher
    The Ripple knighthood had been unexpected, and generally thought to be a mistake on the part of the Palace and something of a joke. In 1919 Jeremy Ripple published Fortitude – The British Warrior , an ironic history of military ineptitude through the ages written by a malcontent, but having been erroneously construed by a drunken reviewer in the Times as a tribute to patriotic fervour, went on to make a great deal of money throughout the world. The irony was not lost on Jeremy Ripple but he was pleased enough to become a knight of the realm, and careful not to point out the error to anyone of influence. Within a few short months of his investiture the staff could no longer drift in and out of his office at will but must now first make an appointment with his secretary Phoebe, with whom he is rumoured, quite unfairly, to be having an affair.
    It was in the eighteen-eighties that the whole institution of marriage had been predicted to break down when the first batch of young unmarried women had trooped into offices as typists: mature men in constant company with young female secretaries were likely to find them prettier and livelier than their wives and would be tempted. As indeed they often were.
    Anyway.
    The Publisher’s Wife
    Sherwyn sees in Phoebe temptation enough – she’s a bright bouncy tactile bobbed blonde – but he does not want to believe the rumours. They seem unlikely. Sir Jeremy’s wife Adela is a palely translucent fragile beauty who glides rather than bounces, looks down from a disdainful well-born height, and provides the money for the whole Ripple enterprise. Such women are hard to come by as wives and their alienation is not lightly risked. Besides, Sir Jeremy adores his wife, and has lately encouraged her to spend huge sums refurbishing Ripple & Co’s foyer, reception area and his own comfortable and smoky offices (while quite ignoring the top floor – which leaks and crumbles, and where the real work is done) in the most up-to-date and fastidious Art Deco style. It even featured in Home and Design ’s ‘Offices of the Future’.
    The Publisher’s Offspring
    Sherwyn, who runs across Vivien occasionally at this meeting or that, as she busies herself around the office choosing fonts and providing illustrations for various of her father’s books, has always seen it as strange that Lady Adela Ripple’s narrow fashionable loins could have given birth to a daughter of such excessive bulkiness. It would be grievous to any mother – so much hope goes into parenthood – to have given birth to such an untoward child, and an only child at that. Perhaps having had the one, they decided not to have another? That might make a short story: The Shadow of the Nursery or The Peculiar Daughter or simply The Giantess . He will consult with Mungo, who is good on titles. A good title is half the battle. Presumably, in the absence of a son, Sir Jeremy has been grooming Vivien to take over the family business. She is peculiar rather than stupid, Sherwyn acknowledges, and a pleasant enough person, if clumsy. She’d managed once to tip an inkwell over his valued Corona typewriter he’d bought from an army surplus sale with his last £50, the better to type The Uncertain Gentleman . His fingertips were stained blue for days.
    The Writer At Work
    But there is work to be done, and Sherwyn must get on with it and not let himself be distracted. He sits at his desk, rolls paper into his typewriter and types... The Eye of the Lamb . Seven vowels in five words: the more vowels compared to consonants in title, character’s or author’s name the better. He is not sure why he believes