The Norfolk Mystery (The County Guides) Read Online Free Page B

good. The person appointed would also be required to make arrangements for travel and accommodation, and to assist me in all aspects of my researches on the project as I see fit.’
    â€˜I see, sir.’
    â€˜I shan’t give you a false impression of my daily rounds, Sefton. There is no glamour. It is tiresome work requiring long hours, endurance and determination.’
    â€˜I understand, sir.’
    â€˜And do you think you’re up to such a task?’
    â€˜I believe so, sir.’
    â€˜Are you married, Sefton?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Engaged to be married?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜A homosexual?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Pets?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Good. We’ve plenty of those already. You don’t mind dogs?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Terriers?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Cats?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Birds?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Aversions or allergies to any kind of animals?’
    â€˜Not that I know of, sir.’
    â€˜And you are not in current employ?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜Good. So you’d be able to start immediately?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Very well.’
    My curiosity had certainly been piqued by my interviewer’s description of his enterprise, but after several rounds of questioning I was still keen to know more about the details. I made one more bid for clarity. ‘Can I ask, sir, exactly what the project is to be?’
    â€˜The project?’ He sounded surprised, as though the nature of his work was widely known. ‘A series of books, Sefton, called
The County Guides
. A complete series of guides to the counties of England.’
    â€˜All of them, sir?’
    â€˜Indeed.’
    â€˜How many counties are there?’
    â€˜Schoolmaster, aren’t we, Sefton?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Well, then? Let me ask you the question: how many counties are there?’
    â€˜Forty? thirty-nine?’
    â€˜Thirty-nine. Exactly.’
    â€˜So, thirty-nine books?’
    â€˜We may also include the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey, Sefton. In which case there shall be forty-one.’
    â€˜An … ambitious project then, sir.’ It struck me, in fact, not so much as ambitious as the very definition of folly.
    â€˜In a life, Mr Sefton, of finite duration I can’t imagine why anyone would wish to embark on any other kind of project. Can you?’
    â€˜No, sir.’
    â€˜I intend the
County Guides
as nothing less than the new Domesday Book. I shall be going out into England with my assistant to find all the good things and to put them down.’
    â€˜Only the good, sir?’
    â€˜The books are intended as a celebration, yes, Sefton.’
    â€˜Works of … selective amnesia, then, sir?’
    My interviewer frowned deeply at this untoward remark. ‘Among those I would call the “not-so-intelligentsia”, Sefton, I know there to be an inclination to talk down our great nation. Are you one such down-talker?’
    â€˜I like to think I’m a realist, sir.’
    â€˜As am I, Sefton, as am I. Which is why I am undertaking this project. You may wish to reflect, sir, that you are of a generation that may live to see the year 2000, from which distant perspective you will be viewing a nation doubtless very different from that which you see around you now. It is my desire merely to set down a record of this place before its roots are cut and its sap drained, and the ancient oaks are felled once and for all. I do not wish England – our England – to be unknown by future generations. Do you understand, Sefton?’
    â€˜I think so, sir.’
    â€˜Good.’ He shifted in his seat and he glanced around the room, as though someone were among us. ‘Because I believe I can feel the chilly hand of fate coming upon us, Sefton.
The County Guides
I hope shall be clarion calls: they may be