seemed so rocky. Ember could have sited the interview somewhere less, such as the breakfast room or study. It would be amusing but tiresome now to bring out the eight wad and count off five. Heâd look like some damn bookie. He wondered whether as Brown watched this procedure heâd realize he had comically underquoted. Ralph decided he would not show the other twenty also. Why be pointed? Let Brown go off with his five, uncertain if heâd done well or pathetically.
Maybe heâd ring up his parents as if to talk about the weather and so on and mention as something incidental that heâd just landed a business commission at five grand a week, so stuff whatever it was his brother earned poncing about on the stage â not five grand a week, definitely. And his parents might consider five grand a week quite a bit, even though theyâd been brassy enough to call a kid Joachim, a British kid.
âWhen I say âcertain assurancesâ Iâm thinking of a decent post on the financial side of the firm,â Brown said.
Ralph could have guessed Brown was thinking of a decent post on the financial side, but to pick up five when it could have been eight or ten didnât seem much of a recommendation for someone thinking of a decent post on the financial side. Ember said: âWeâre hoping to develop in several new directions. There will be openings.â
âYou mean when Manse has been snuffed â deservedly snuffed?â
âItâs in the nature of a vibrant company to find previously untried channels,â Ember replied.
âHow are you going to do it, Ralph?â
âWhat?â
âSee to Manse.â
âThe purpose of this exercise is for you to get a working familiarity with the binary character, yet unity, of the companies,â Ember replied.
âItâs not my sort of operation,â Brown said.
âYouâre backing out?â Ralph felt almost pleased. Did he want to hand over preparations for the possible slaughter of Mansel Shale to this half-baked big-mouth? Didnât Mansel merit a better angel of death than that, after all these years? Manse had a lot to be said for him, and Ralph wouldnât at all have minded saying it, even if Manse might have to be put down for inescapable commercial reasons.
âItâs not my sort of operation to see to Manse,â Brown answered. âI mean, actually to see to him personally. Listen, Ralph, have you got the wrong notion, because Iâm called Turret?â
It enraged Ember to be addressed like that, âListen,â on his own property. âWhat wrong notion, Joachim?â
âI donât do hits.â
âHits?â
âShooting in a street battle is fine, entirely and efficiently fine. This is a matter of fighting for due territory, for respect, for security. But if youâre telling me to look for the clever moment to do Manse personally, and do it personally while Iâm in there â thatâs not on, Ralph.â
âWhat I have in mind is standard business practice at a certain upper level. Perhaps youâre not familiar with it yet. Someone considered executive material â potential executive material â is seconded in a career-expanding move to another business to learn â to absorb â its ways, its intricacies , first hand. A widening process,â Ember explained.
âThereâs a basic difference between warfare and execution.â
Seminar time. âVery much a matter of observing mood, tendencies, atmosphere, and reporting back,â Ember said. âIn some respects akin to an ambassadorial mission. Thatâs how Iâd like you to think of it. Iâm puzzled by this talk of âhitsâ.â
âIf it comes to carnage around the territory, Iâll be right there, sweetly with you, Ralph, my gun flair yours to count on. Youâll see then where the Turret name comes from. But Iâm not one