{"product_id":"2940013696389","title":"Sick Heart River","description":"Leithen had been too busy all day to concern himself with the\u003cbr\u003ethoughts which hung heavily at the back of his mind.  In the\u003cbr\u003emorning he had visited his bankers to look into his money affairs.\u003cbr\u003eThese were satisfactory enough: for years he had been earning a\u003cbr\u003elarge income and spending little of it; his investments were mostly\u003cbr\u003ein trustee stocks; he found that he possessed, at a safe\u003cbr\u003ecomputation, a considerable fortune, while his Cotswold estate\u003cbr\u003ewould find a ready sale.  Next came his solicitors, for he was too\u003cbr\u003ewise a man to make the mistake of many barristers and tinker with\u003cbr\u003ehis own will.  He gave instructions for bringing the old one up to\u003cbr\u003edate.  There were a few legacies by way of mementoes to old\u003cbr\u003efriends, a considerable gift to his college, donations to certain\u003cbr\u003echarities, and the residue to his nephew Charles, his only near\u003cbr\u003erelation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe forced himself to lunch at one of his clubs, in a corner where\u003cbr\u003eno one came near him, though Archie Roylance waved a greeting\u003cbr\u003eacross the dining-room.  Then he spent a couple of hours with his\u003cbr\u003eclerk in his Temple chambers, looking through the last of his\u003cbr\u003ebriefs.  There were not a great many, since, for some months, he\u003cbr\u003ehad been steadily refusing work.  The batch of cases for opinion he\u003cbr\u003ecould soon clear off, and one big case in the Lords he must argue\u003cbr\u003enext week, for it involved a point of law in which he had always\u003cbr\u003etaken a special interest.  The briefs for the following term would\u003cbr\u003ebe returned.  The clerk, who had been with him for thirty years,\u003cbr\u003ewas getting on in life and would be glad to retire on an ample\u003cbr\u003epension.  Still, it was a painful parting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's a big loss to the Bar, Sir Edward, sir,\" old Mellon said,\u003cbr\u003e\"and it's pretty well the end of things for me.  You have been a\u003cbr\u003ekind master to me, sir, and I'm proud to have served you.  I hope\u003cbr\u003eyou are going to have many happy years yet.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut there had been a look of pain in the old man's eyes which told\u003cbr\u003eLeithen that he had guessed what he dared not hint at.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe had tea at the House of Commons with the Chief Whip, a youngish\u003cbr\u003eman named Ritson, who in the War had been a subaltern in his own\u003cbr\u003ebattalion.  Ritson listened to him with a wrinkled brow and\u003cbr\u003etroubled eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Have you told your local people?\" he asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'll write to them tomorrow.  I thought I ought to tell you first.\u003cbr\u003eThere's no fear of losing the seat.  My majority has never been\u003cbr\u003eless than six thousand, and there's an excellent candidate ready in\u003cbr\u003eyoung Walmer.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We shall miss you terribly, you know.  There's no one to take your\u003cbr\u003eplace.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeithen smiled.  \"I haven't been pulling my weight lately.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Perhaps not.  But I'm thinking of what's coming.  If there's an\u003cbr\u003eelection, we're going to win all right, and we'll want you badly in\u003cbr\u003ethe new Government.  It needn't be a law office.  You can have your\u003cbr\u003epick of half a dozen jobs.  Only yesterday the Chief was speaking\u003cbr\u003eto me about you.\"  And he repeated a conversation he had had with\u003cbr\u003ethe man who would be the next Prime Minister.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You're all very kind.  But I don't think I want anything.  I've\u003cbr\u003edone enough, as Napoleon said, 'pour chauffer la gloire.'\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145770189040,"sku":"2940013696389","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013696389_p0.jpg?v=1763584638","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013696389","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}