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Authors: John W O' Sullivan
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friendly and make amends for their behaviour earlier in the month, nor had they had to be instructed by Ada to do so.
‘Sorry to disturb your evening Mr Manning, but we wondered if you could spare a little time to have a look at what we’ve brought back: Mr & Mrs Gillan too if you could give them a ring.’
‘Can’t wait to see it. Come on through and grab a seat. Kate would you give Jimmy a quick ring please, and ask them both if they could pop up right away. Tell them Ted and Charlie have called…. and by the way it’s Jack and Kate, Jimmy and Celia from now on. OK
They nodded and then fell into the chairs Jack offered them, trying to balance between them two bouquets of flowers, two packets and one envelope, while maintaining their composure.
‘If you don’t mind Mr…. Sorry Jack, we’ll hang on a bit for Jimmy and Celia before … I mean …’
‘No that’s fine Ted,’ said Jack. ‘How’s Ada?’
‘Oh she keeps marvellous for her age. Looking forward to summer like the rest of us …’
And so they kept up a desultory conversation until Jim and Celia arrived, breathless from their dash over the fields.
‘Well,’ said Ted, who had clearly been designated spokesman, ‘We and Mum would like first to say thank you to you all for what’s turned up.’
Saying no more he proffered a bouquet to Kate and a box to Jack, while Charlie did the same to Celia and Jimmy, each receiving a kiss of thanks from his lady.
‘Oh dear,’ said Jimmy, who first had his box open, ‘It’s going to be a long evening Jack. Where are the glasses?’ He held up a bottle of single malt Scotch as Jack opened his box to find its twin.
With all six comfortably settled with well-charged glasses, the men taking it neat, the ladies with a little water, Ted got down to essentials.
‘Well, as you know, our appointment was with a Mr Longman, but he’d got another chap with him by the name of Castlebar. We told them a little bit more about how the book had come to light, and then handed it over for them to have a look.
Mr Longman had it first. He looked over the cover, turned to Dad’s little note about poor Uncle William, then turned to the front and the signature, before passing it over to the other gentleman. He seemed to compare it with some other papers that he had, and then simply said, “No doubt about it.”’
‘Oh that’s bloody marvellous,’ said Jack.
‘Crudely put,’ said Jimmy, ‘But I think it expresses the view of us all.’
Ted then continued with his story.
‘Mr Longman said he understood we were going to be in town for a couple more days, and thought it would be safer if we left the book with him rather than in our hotel room. He would give us a proper receipt, and then we could pick the book up when we were ready to come home. In the meantime he would prepare a note for us to bring back for Mum and anyone else she wanted to see it’
With this he opened the envelope he had been holding, and held up two sheets of closely typed A4.
‘I think this is your province Jack,’ said Jimmy. ‘You spend your days on this sort of thing. I’ll top up the drinks while you look at it’
Jack read and then re-read the papers while the others talked quietly together.
‘OK. Do you want the full SP, or just the gist?’
The gist being chosen by all, he gave it to them as follows.
‘Right. The book is rare. Only 5,000 were printed in this first edition. Bound in red cloth the book is prone both to wear and to fading. Ada’s copy is in good condition, however, apart from the cover which is faded. The spine and back cover are fine. The signature is undoubtedly genuine. The book will certainly be worth thousands, but exactly how much is uncertain because nothing like it has come on to the market before. The effect of Tom’s pencil note is felt to be uncertain. It may or may not affect the price one way or the other, but if it were possible by any means to establish with certainty that there was a
‘Sorry to disturb your evening Mr Manning, but we wondered if you could spare a little time to have a look at what we’ve brought back: Mr & Mrs Gillan too if you could give them a ring.’
‘Can’t wait to see it. Come on through and grab a seat. Kate would you give Jimmy a quick ring please, and ask them both if they could pop up right away. Tell them Ted and Charlie have called…. and by the way it’s Jack and Kate, Jimmy and Celia from now on. OK
They nodded and then fell into the chairs Jack offered them, trying to balance between them two bouquets of flowers, two packets and one envelope, while maintaining their composure.
‘If you don’t mind Mr…. Sorry Jack, we’ll hang on a bit for Jimmy and Celia before … I mean …’
‘No that’s fine Ted,’ said Jack. ‘How’s Ada?’
‘Oh she keeps marvellous for her age. Looking forward to summer like the rest of us …’
And so they kept up a desultory conversation until Jim and Celia arrived, breathless from their dash over the fields.
‘Well,’ said Ted, who had clearly been designated spokesman, ‘We and Mum would like first to say thank you to you all for what’s turned up.’
Saying no more he proffered a bouquet to Kate and a box to Jack, while Charlie did the same to Celia and Jimmy, each receiving a kiss of thanks from his lady.
‘Oh dear,’ said Jimmy, who first had his box open, ‘It’s going to be a long evening Jack. Where are the glasses?’ He held up a bottle of single malt Scotch as Jack opened his box to find its twin.
With all six comfortably settled with well-charged glasses, the men taking it neat, the ladies with a little water, Ted got down to essentials.
‘Well, as you know, our appointment was with a Mr Longman, but he’d got another chap with him by the name of Castlebar. We told them a little bit more about how the book had come to light, and then handed it over for them to have a look.
Mr Longman had it first. He looked over the cover, turned to Dad’s little note about poor Uncle William, then turned to the front and the signature, before passing it over to the other gentleman. He seemed to compare it with some other papers that he had, and then simply said, “No doubt about it.”’
‘Oh that’s bloody marvellous,’ said Jack.
‘Crudely put,’ said Jimmy, ‘But I think it expresses the view of us all.’
Ted then continued with his story.
‘Mr Longman said he understood we were going to be in town for a couple more days, and thought it would be safer if we left the book with him rather than in our hotel room. He would give us a proper receipt, and then we could pick the book up when we were ready to come home. In the meantime he would prepare a note for us to bring back for Mum and anyone else she wanted to see it’
With this he opened the envelope he had been holding, and held up two sheets of closely typed A4.
‘I think this is your province Jack,’ said Jimmy. ‘You spend your days on this sort of thing. I’ll top up the drinks while you look at it’
Jack read and then re-read the papers while the others talked quietly together.
‘OK. Do you want the full SP, or just the gist?’
The gist being chosen by all, he gave it to them as follows.
‘Right. The book is rare. Only 5,000 were printed in this first edition. Bound in red cloth the book is prone both to wear and to fading. Ada’s copy is in good condition, however, apart from the cover which is faded. The spine and back cover are fine. The signature is undoubtedly genuine. The book will certainly be worth thousands, but exactly how much is uncertain because nothing like it has come on to the market before. The effect of Tom’s pencil note is felt to be uncertain. It may or may not affect the price one way or the other, but if it were possible by any means to establish with certainty that there was a
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