found himself regarding Miss Denton-Smyth with acquiescence. For though she was shabby, pretentious and a little absurd, she was not insignificant. Seen more closely, her shabbiness wore an air of picturesque and debonair eccentricity.
She was a little woman, short, plump and animated as a kitten. Beneath her hat bubbled and curled the dyed and frizzled fringe that almost hid her lively arched brown eyebrows. Her eyes were large, handsome, brown and romantic as a spaniel's. She might have been any age between forty- five and seventy. There was youth in her eyes, in her vitality, in her soft, eager hurrying voice and merry laugh; there was youth in her girlish skirt and sturdy legs; but her skin was old. Her round brown face was wrinkled as a walnut; her neck was old, and her busy restless hands were knotted with rheumatism.
St. Denis let her talk. It amused Joseph to watch how he prompted her with casual questions, as though her flow of discursive, excited, emphatic conversation gave him ex quisite entertainment. Joseph could not keep up with her at all.
He heard her say, 'And so, you see, if we can really buy the rights for six months of the Tona Perfecta, we shall soon raise the capital for manufacture.'
He gathered that the Tona Perfecta was some newly invented talking film.
'Yes, Mr. Johnson met him, and of course although he is perhaps a rather rough diamond, I always say he has a heart of gold, and then these Canadians are somehow so winning, and Mr. St. Denis went with Johnson to the laboratory, didn't you, Mr. St. Denis? It's out at Annerley, you know, in a really extraordinary place, although he is undoubtedly a genius.'
Joseph's mind leapt panting after her eager affirmations, but he was handicapped by the necessity of instructing the waiter, of choosing wines, and of paying attention to his other guest. He could not follow her.
'And so I've written of course to my Yorkshire relatives and told them that as an investment which will really bring them both financial and moral satisfaction, of course, the Christian Cinema Company is unequalled. Only, of course, we must have offices, and I have seen exactly what we want in Victoria Street, because though Mr. Johnson has very kindly lent us his just until we get somewhere of our own, I always say that one little corner of your own is better than a palace of someone else's.'
Whatever else might fail, thought Joseph, the crepes de Volailles at least fulfilled their purpose. They were perfect; they were marvellous; they were so unequivocally The Best of their kind that they set at rest all his natural impulses of uneasiness.
Miss Denton-Smyth also found them admirable. 'Of course, I always say that the Good Lord wouldn't have given us stomachs if he had not meant us to enjoy our food. Of course, I belong to temperance organizations because I think that one ought to encourage all good work, but I'm very glad that we haven't had prohibition yet in England. I always think that the miracle of Cana, if you know what I mean, is somehow so stimulating.'
Clearly she had been stimulated by something; but whether by the wine, by the food, by the suave leisureliness of the restaurant, or by her own vitality, Joseph did not know. St. Denis talked little, and ate almost as little as he talked. But his manner assumed that Joseph was as much interested in Miss Denton-Smyth as he was, and that the Christian Cinema Company was a rather complicated personal joke which they would share between them. Before they left the restaurant, Joseph knew that he was committed to a preliminary investment of five hundred pounds to en able the Christian Cinema Company to establish its offices in Victoria Street, to negotiate for the rights of producing Tona Perfecta Films, and to open its propaganda campaign for the purification of the British cinema.
§3
Towards the end of November, 1928, Joseph Isenbaum sat at the Board table of the Christian Cinema Company Limited in Victoria Street
She was a little woman, short, plump and animated as a kitten. Beneath her hat bubbled and curled the dyed and frizzled fringe that almost hid her lively arched brown eyebrows. Her eyes were large, handsome, brown and romantic as a spaniel's. She might have been any age between forty- five and seventy. There was youth in her eyes, in her vitality, in her soft, eager hurrying voice and merry laugh; there was youth in her girlish skirt and sturdy legs; but her skin was old. Her round brown face was wrinkled as a walnut; her neck was old, and her busy restless hands were knotted with rheumatism.
St. Denis let her talk. It amused Joseph to watch how he prompted her with casual questions, as though her flow of discursive, excited, emphatic conversation gave him ex quisite entertainment. Joseph could not keep up with her at all.
He heard her say, 'And so, you see, if we can really buy the rights for six months of the Tona Perfecta, we shall soon raise the capital for manufacture.'
He gathered that the Tona Perfecta was some newly invented talking film.
'Yes, Mr. Johnson met him, and of course although he is perhaps a rather rough diamond, I always say he has a heart of gold, and then these Canadians are somehow so winning, and Mr. St. Denis went with Johnson to the laboratory, didn't you, Mr. St. Denis? It's out at Annerley, you know, in a really extraordinary place, although he is undoubtedly a genius.'
Joseph's mind leapt panting after her eager affirmations, but he was handicapped by the necessity of instructing the waiter, of choosing wines, and of paying attention to his other guest. He could not follow her.
'And so I've written of course to my Yorkshire relatives and told them that as an investment which will really bring them both financial and moral satisfaction, of course, the Christian Cinema Company is unequalled. Only, of course, we must have offices, and I have seen exactly what we want in Victoria Street, because though Mr. Johnson has very kindly lent us his just until we get somewhere of our own, I always say that one little corner of your own is better than a palace of someone else's.'
Whatever else might fail, thought Joseph, the crepes de Volailles at least fulfilled their purpose. They were perfect; they were marvellous; they were so unequivocally The Best of their kind that they set at rest all his natural impulses of uneasiness.
Miss Denton-Smyth also found them admirable. 'Of course, I always say that the Good Lord wouldn't have given us stomachs if he had not meant us to enjoy our food. Of course, I belong to temperance organizations because I think that one ought to encourage all good work, but I'm very glad that we haven't had prohibition yet in England. I always think that the miracle of Cana, if you know what I mean, is somehow so stimulating.'
Clearly she had been stimulated by something; but whether by the wine, by the food, by the suave leisureliness of the restaurant, or by her own vitality, Joseph did not know. St. Denis talked little, and ate almost as little as he talked. But his manner assumed that Joseph was as much interested in Miss Denton-Smyth as he was, and that the Christian Cinema Company was a rather complicated personal joke which they would share between them. Before they left the restaurant, Joseph knew that he was committed to a preliminary investment of five hundred pounds to en able the Christian Cinema Company to establish its offices in Victoria Street, to negotiate for the rights of producing Tona Perfecta Films, and to open its propaganda campaign for the purification of the British cinema.
§3
Towards the end of November, 1928, Joseph Isenbaum sat at the Board table of the Christian Cinema Company Limited in Victoria Street
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