Sir George Farquhar, Baronet, builder of railway-stations, and
institutes, and churches, author, antiquarian, and senior partner of
Farquhar and Farquhar, leant back in his office chair and turned it
sideways to give more point to his remarks. Before him stood an
understudy, whom he was sending to superintend the restoration work at
Cullerne Minster.
"Well, good-bye, Westray; keep your eyes open, and don't forget that you
have an important job before you. The church is too big to hide
its light under a bushel, and this
Society-for-the-Conservation-of-National-Inheritances has made up its
mind to advertise itself at our expense. Ignoramuses who don't know an
aumbry from an abacus, charlatans, amateur faddists, they _will_ abuse
our work. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's all one to them; they are
pledged to abuse it."
His voice rang with a fine professional contempt, but he sobered himself
and came back to business.
"The south transept roof and the choir vaulting will want careful
watching. There is some old trouble, too, in the central tower; and I
should like later on to underpin the main crossing piers, but there is
no money. For the moment I have said nothing about the tower; it is no
use raising doubts that one can't set at rest; and I don't know how we
are going to make ends meet, even with the little that it is proposed to
do now. If funds come in, we must tackle the tower; but transept and
choir-vaults are more pressing, and there is no risk from the bells,
because the cage is so rotten that they haven't been rung for years.
"You must do your best. It isn't a very profitable stewardship, so try
to give as good an account of it as you can. We shan't make a penny out
of it, but the church is too well known to play fast-and-loose with. I
have written to the parson--a foolish old fellow, who is no more fit
than a lady's-maid to be trusted with such a church as Cullerne--to say
you are coming to-morrow, and will put in an appearance at the church in
the afternoon, in case he wishes to see you. The man is an ass, but he
is legal guardian of the place, and has not done badly in collecting
money for the restoration; so we must bear with him."