uncomplimentary.'
'Let's get back to our present position,' said Geoffrey, 'which from a financial point of view is just as deadly. Now Frensic has offered us this novel and in my view we ought to accept it.'
'We've never had dealings with Frensic before,' said Mr Tate. 'They tell me he drives a hard bargain. How much is he demanding this time?'
'A purely nominal sum.'
'A nominal sum? Frensic? That doesn't sound like him. He usually asks the earth. There must be a snag.'
'The damned book's the snag. Any fool can see that,' said Mr Wilberforce.
'Frensic has wider views,' said Geoffrey. 'He foresees a Transatlantic purchase.'
There was an audible sigh from the two old men.
'Ah,' said Mr Tate, 'an American sale. That could make a considerable difference.'
'Exactly,' said Geoffrey, 'and Frensic is convinced that the book has merits the Americans might well appreciate. After all it's not all sex and there are passages with Lawrentian overtones, not to mention references to many important literary figures. The Bloomsbury group for instance, Virginia Woolf and Middleton Murry. And then there's the philosophy.'
Mr Tate nodded. 'True. True,' he said. 'It's the sort of pot of message Americans might fall for but I don't see what good that is going to do us.'
'Ten per cent of the American royalties,' said Geoffrey. 'That's what good it's going to do us.'
'The author agrees to this?'
'Mr Frensic seems to think so and if the book makes the bestseller lists in the States it will consequently sell wildly over here.'
'If,' said Mr Tate. 'A very big if. Who has he in mind as the American publisher?'
'Hutchmeyer.'
'Ah,' said Mr Tate, 'one begins to see his drift.'
'Hutchmeyer,' said Mr Wilberforce, 'is a rogue and a thief.'
'He is also one of the most successful promoters in American publishing,' said Geoffrey. 'If he decides to buy a book it will sell. And he pays enormous advances.'
Mr Tate nodded. 'I must say I have never understood the workings of the American market but it's true they often pay enormous advances and Hutchmeyer is flamboyant. Frensic could well be right. It's a chance I suppose.'
'Our only chance,' said Geoffrey. 'The alternative is to put the firm up for auction.'
Mr Wilberforce poured some more Madeira. 'It seems a terrible comedown,' he said. 'To think that we should have sunk to this...this pseudo-intellectual pornography.'
'If it keeps us financially solvent...' said Mr Tate. 'Who is this man Piper anyway?'
'A pervert,' said Mr Wilberforce firmly.
'Frensic tells me he's a young man who has been writing for some time,' said Geoffrey. 'This is his first novel.'
'And hopefully his last,' said Mr Wilberforce. 'Still I suppose it could have been worse. Who was that dreadful creature who had herself castrated and then wrote a book advertising the fact?'
'I should have thought that was an impossibility,' said Geoffrey. 'Castrated herself. Now himself I '
'You're probably thinking of In Cold Blood by someone called McCullers,' said Mr Tate. 'Never did read the book myself but people tell me it was foul.'
'Then we are all agreed,' said Geoffrey to change the subject from one so close to the bone. Mr Tate and Mr Wilberforce nodded sadly.
