Скорбь сатаны

Chapter 15

           "Allright"—Isaid—"Butperhapsthegreatoracleofthecliqueswillrejectyourproposalswithscorn."

           "Ifhedoes,thenisUtopiarealized!"—repliedLucio,carefullydrawingonhisglovesashespoke—"Where’sacopyofyourbook?Ah—here’sone—smellingnewlyofthepress,"andheslippedthevolumeintohisovercoatpocket;"Allowme,beforedeparture,toexpresstheopinionthatyouareasingularlyungratefulfellow,Geoffrey!HereamI,perfectlydevotedtoyourinterests—anddespitemyprincedomactuallypreparedto‘pose’toMcWhingasyour‘actingmanager’protem,andyouhaven’tsomuchasathank-youtothrowatme!"

           Hestoodbeforemesmiling,thepersonificationofkindnessandgoodhumour.Ilaughedalittle.

           "McWhingwillnevertakeyouforanactingmanagerorliteraryagent,"—Isaid—"Youdon’tlookit.IfIseemchurlishI’msorry—butthefactisIamdisgusted..."

           "Atwhat?"heinquired,stillsmiling.

           "Oh,atthehumbugofeverything,"—Iansweredimpatiently;"Thestupidfarceofitall.Whyshouldn’tabookgetnoticedonitsownmeritswithoutanyappealtocliquismandinfluentialwire-pullingonthepress?"

           "Exactly!"andhedelicatelyflickedagrainofdustoffhiscoatwhilespeaking—"Andwhyshouldn’tamangetreceivedinsocietyonhisownmerits,withoutanymoneytorecommendhimoranyinfluentialfriendtobackhimup?"

           Iwassilent.

Настройки
Фон страницы
Размер шрифта
Межстрочный интервал
Фразовые глаголы
Показать / Скрыть меню
Шрифт
Roboto Lora
Уведомления
Страница 226 из 677