Poor Caroline (9 page)

'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 reckoning his gains and losses.
The gains were substantial, for St. Denis had at last promised
him an introduction to the house-master of his old house at
Eton, and had manifested adequate interest in little Ben
jamin. Moreover, St. Denis himself was an agreeable fellow.
He would make no fuss if, after Benjamin was safely entered
for Eton, Joseph quietly withdrew from his directorship.

For Joseph had no intention of letting this business cost
him very much more. Already, one way and another, he
had spent upon it six hundred and thirty-seven pounds,
twelve shillings and eightpence, and while he was prepared
to spend far more for Benjamin's sake, he had no wish to
throw away his money. Five hundred pounds he had sub
scribed to the company, one hundred and six pounds he had
spent at Mitchell's, unobtrusively clearing St. Denis's
account and restoring his diminished credit. The rest had
gone on luncheons, drinks and taxis. It was enough.

The company, of course, was in itself a farce. The honorary secretary saw herself as an alluring combination of Sir
Oswald Stoll and Josephine Butler, a great financial power
whose influence purified
British entertainments. She wanted
to be rich as much as anyone; but from practical experience she knew that it was far easier to distribute uplift than divi
dends among mankind. It was easier to Do Good than to Make Money. Joseph's five hundred pounds and the small
investments of the other directors had evaporated upon
office equipment, printing and advertisement, and although
public opinion might have derived education from the result, the company had certainly derived no substantial pecuniary benefit.

Still, there it was, and there was the Board assembled at
five o'clock in the afternoon, waiting to begin a meeting. St.
Denis sat at the head of the table, acting his part as chair
man with ironic exaggeration. One of the amusements of a business career lay in the opportunity for dressing-up. St.
Denis as the Complete Business Man, in a morning coat and
striped trousers, his sleek fair hair brushed back, and a gar
denia in his buttonhole, was a glorious sight.

On his left sat Hugh Macafee, inventor of the Tona Per
fecta Talking Film, a gauche, raw-boned, sullen young Scot,
his gaunt face thrust down on to his roughened fists, his badly
fitting Norfolk jacket hunched up round his ears. Macafee
had a grievance, and Joseph Isenbaum was not at all sure
that in Macafee's place he would not have had a grievance
too. For the other directors might find the company one
incident among many in their lives, but the Tona Perfecta
Film meant everything to Macafee. He had worked for it and starved for it and dreamed of it, and had, Joseph con
sidered, a right to sell it in the best market. If he were wise, he would break away from Johnson's clutches and get clear of the company. Once or twice Joseph had been tempted to
tell him so. But after all, was it his business? He was a
director of the company. The Tona Perfecta was its sole substantial asset. What right had he to play a double game
with Macafee? Far better leave well alone. After all, even
Macafee was not a child.

He turned from Macafee to John Fry Fox Guerdon, the
Quaker director, an unhappy, timid, middle-aged bachelor,
with a long egg-shaped head, very bald and highly polished.
A semicircle of white hair fringed his oval skull; small sur
prised tufts of white hair jutted from his eyes and eyebrows.
He twitched his long nose and blinked disconsolately through
his gold-rimmed eyeglasses, alarmed at every manifestation
of activity on the part of his fellow-directors, ill at ease in the
proximity of Johnson, and obviously only remaining upon
the Board because his family tradition impelled him to good
works, and St. Denis had persuaded him that this was a
noble cause.

Poor Guerdon, thought Joseph, forced by his principles to
associate with a brigand like Johnson. For if ever villainy
was writ large upon a man's countenance, that man was
Clifton Roderick Johnson, 'of Toronto and Hollywood' according to his own account, of Birmingham and Chicago
still more probably, thought Joseph, a huge, hulking, clumsy,
disreputable, oratorical creature, who had just missed being
superbly handsome and obviously gave himself the benefit
of the doubt. Johnson affected a picturesque and conspicuous
style of dress and manner. His decorative blue shirts with open necks, his broad-brimmed black hats, huge flapping cloaks and free dramatic gestures, made his appearance re
markable in any company. Tall and finely proportioned,
his otherwise impressive figure was spoiled by the ugly for
ward thrust of his head and neck. His black brows almost
met above dark flashing eyes, which were unfortunately dis
figured by a slight cast. His really handsome profile was
marred when he smiled and showed his big, yellow neglected
teeth. He was as dirty as St. Denis was fastidious, forgot to
shave after a night's drinking, and would appear at a lunch at the Cafe Royal with his shoe-laces undone. In moments of excitement he had been known to roll down a woollen
sock and expose on a hairy ankle the scars left by a bear's
claws during a rough encounter in the Rockies. He gave
acquaintances to understand that on less accessible parts of
his person were even better scars. He was a clever, bragging,
untidy, talkative, malicious, romantic fellow, with the face
of an artistic scavenger and the amatory impulses of a
tom-cat. The thought of his concern for the purity of the cinema was sufficient to afford St. Denis adequate enter
tainment for a year.

On the other side of Johnson was Joseph's seat, and be
tween Joseph and the chairman sat the honorary secretary
of the company, Miss Denton-Smyth. It was she who had
arranged the austere but imposing furniture of the office, she
who had laid before each director a sheet of pink virgin
blotting-paper, a writing-block, and sharpened pencil. It
was she who had written in the large leather-bound book the
minutes of the previous Board meetings; she who sent out the
circulars, drafted the prospectuses, soothed Macafee's im
patience and curbed Johnson's eloquence. For all the ironic insinuations of St. Denis, Joseph knew that Miss Denton-
Smyth was the Christian Cinema Company. It had come
into being at her word. It existed upon her labour. It
aspired toward her ideals.

'What a woman,' thought Joseph Isenbaum. 'What a
woman!'

As Joseph watched her open her correspondence file,
smooth the papers neatly in front of her, and
beam round
the table at her Board until her eyes came to rest with ador
ing solicitude upon her chairman, Joseph thought, 'Almighty God, the woman's fallen in love with St. Denis.'
But later, when she went through her correspondence, spoke
of the growing public interest in the enterprise, displayed the company seal that had just arrived at the office, and
described the interview which she had had with the Rector of Mayfair, Joseph thought instead, 'The woman's fallen in
love with the Company!'

The meeting began.

St. Denis nodded his head, and drawled in his charming, musical voice, 'W
ell, Miss Denton-Smyth and gentlemen,
we may as well begin. I call upon the secretary to read the
minutes of the last meeting.'

Miss Denton-Smyth cleared her throat and ran her tongue
over her lips. She began to read.

'A Board meeting of the Christian Cinema Company,
Ltd., was held on November 1st, 1928, at 396 Victoria
Street. Present, Mr. St. Denis in the chair, Mr. Johnson,
Mr. Guerdon, Mr. Isenbaum, Mr. Macafee and Miss Denton-Smyth, honorary secretary. The minutes of the last
meeting were read and confirmed. The hon. secretary re
ported that she had received seventeen letters of inquiry in
response to the advertisement in the
Churchman's Weekly,
four
through the
Protestant Gazette,
two from
The School Teacher,
and seven from
The Homes of England.'

The eager, gentle voice went on. There was no doubt,
reflected Joseph, that to Miss Denton-Smyth these letters
were as wonderful as love-letters. Each circular was to her
a royal mandate. Geography radiated from one central
point, this office in Victoria Street. History dated from her
first interview with Basil St. Denis. Mathematics was a
system for calculating how many shareholders buying ten
£l
shares would be necessary to start the manufacture of Tona
Perfecta Films. Art was the inspiration and direction of
purified and educational films. The universe centred round
the success or failure of the Christian Cinema Company
Limited.

'It's not as though she, or any of them, cared two straws
for the purity of the British film,' thought Joseph. 'She
wants her two hundred per cent., as much as any of them.
If the business were selling saucepans or rubber or institu
ting laundries or building a college, it would be all the same.
She's in love with the work, with enterprise, with getting
something done, with running an office, and flirting
with St. Denis. But she can't take it easily. She's a fanatic.
It's a religion with her. Well, I suppose it's about as
satisfactory as any other religion and may last at least as
long.'