The Lion's Share by Arnold Bennett
page 133 of 434 (30%)
page 133 of 434 (30%)
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establishment, where other clerks were selling tickets to Palestine,
Timbuctoo, Bagdad, Berlin, and all the abodes of happiness in the world, she saw at the newspaper kiosk opposite the little blue poster of an English daily. It said: "More Suffragette Riots." She had a qualm, for her conscience was apt to be tyrannic, and its empire over her had been strengthened by the long, steady course of hard work which she had accomplished. Miss Ingate's arguments had not placated that conscience. It had said to her in the night: "If ever there was a girl who ought to assist heartily in the emancipation of women, that girl is you, Audrey Moze." "Pooh!" she replied to her conscience, for she could always confute it with a sharp word--for a time. And she crossed to the _grand boulevard_, and turned westward along the splendid, humming, roaring thoroughfare gay with flags and gleaming with such plate-glass as Nick the militant would have loved to shatter. Certainly there was nothing like this street in the Quarter. The Quarter could equal it neither in shops, nor in cafés, nor in vehicles, nor in crowds. It was an exultant thoroughfare, and Audrey caught its buoyancy, which could be distinctly seen in the feather on her hat. At the end of it she passed into the cool shade of a music-shop with the name "Durand" on its façade. She had found the address, and another one, in the telephone book at the Café de Versailles that morning. It was an immense shop containing millions of pieces of music for all instruments and all tastes. Yet when she modestly asked for the Caprice for violin of Roussel, the _morceau_ was brought to her without the slightest hesitation, together with the pianoforte accompaniment. The price was twelve francs. Her gloved hand closed round the slim roll with the delicate firmness which |
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