The Lorimer Line Read Online Free PDF Page A

part of the city which a young lady should never visit.
    Just once, in an emergency caused by an accident to a child, she had broken this unwritten rule, protected by her father’s coachman. It was on this occasion that she had seen Walter emerging from a house off Joy Hill. Unlike the dockside stews, the establishments in this district were outwardly respectable, but their costs were often defrayed by gentlemen who would not in public admit to knowing the females who occupied them. Margaret’ upbringing had been strict, and she accepted the restrictions which were designed to protect her before her wedding day. But she was young enough to be an idealist, not accepting a double standard for men and women. If Walter behaved before marriage in a manner that she could not approve, might he not continue afterwards in the same way?
    Margaret was well aware that she was not supposed to know why the Joy Hill area was forbidden to her. Georgiana would have been horrified to discover how her twenty-year-old daughter’s mind had been corrupted by conversation with the sick and poor. Any admission of what she had seen, much less the deduction she had drawn from it, would result in an immediate prohibition on any further visiting.
    But for Margaret these journeys were not merely a way of passing the time. They were the only part of her day’s activities which she felt to be of any value, and she did not intend to put them at risk merely so that Walter couldhave an opportunity to explain his movements or, alternatively, that her own repugnance for the proposed association should be understood.
    This was why she had given her father no reason for her rejection of Walter Crankshaw, which in turn made her fear an embarrassing encounter at the party. But when the afternoon came Walter bowed politely over her hand without speaking and his parents were fulsome in their compliments about the appearance of the garden.
    With her small ordeal over, Margaret felt able to relax. The upper lawn and terraces, usually deserted, were crowded by now. Since everyone must have arrived, it would be in order for her to move away from her parents’ side. But just as she began to turn away, a late guest made his appearance. He was a stranger to her - a good-looking young man, clean-shaven and bright-eyed, revealing dark curly hair as he raised his tall hat. She waited while the new arrival exchanged a few words with her parents. Then Mr Lynch, the manager of Lorimer’s, brought him across to be introduced to her.
    â€˜Miss Lorimer, you will not have met our new company accountant. He is only recently arrived from Scotland to take up the post. May I beg leave to present Mr David Grcgson?’

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    When an employer extends a social invitation to the members of his staff, acceptance is taken for granted. The fortunate minions need only consider how best to express their gratitude, and take pains to be punctual in arriving and leaving.
    David Gregson had been in grave danger of offending against this unwritten rule as the time approached for thestart of the garden party at Brinsley House. To spend his free time in the company of fellow-workers offered little prospect of pleasure, and he had been put to an expense he could ill afford in order to dress in the check trousers and cutaway coat prescribed by Mr Lynch as suitable for his position. Nevertheless, he had recognized that it would be unthinkable to refuse his chairman’s invitation and was prepared to utter all the polite insincerities which the occasion would demand.
    As a comparative newcomer to the city, however, he had not realized in time how much the residents of Clifton valued the exclusive character of their suburb. Only when he was leaving his lodgings did his landlady warn him that the tramway company had never been allowed to lay a line there in case the general public should be tempted to intrude. He would have to walk the whole distance. As he strode up the steep hill