A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry

Author:Ambrose Parry [Parry, Ambrose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786899873
Publisher: Canongate Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY

he care of the poor should not depend upon Christian charity. Poverty should not be seen as inevitable, an inescapable feature of the human condition. I believe it can be eliminated by the application of liberal principles: social equality and fairness, self-help and self-improvement through education and temperance. Let us use the powers of the state to improve the lives of all of our citizens: men and women, rich and poor.’

There was genuine enthusiasm in the applause as Teddy Hamilton concluded his address. Raven looked round the room. A wide range of people were represented here this evening: the haves and the have-nots; the well-to-do and those who had to make do. He had seldom seen so many ill-matched individuals congregated in one place. The closest had been in church, but even there parishioners were largely segregated according to wealth, from the polished pews at the front to the rough-hewn benches at the back.

It was the first such meeting he had attended, although Sarah had been to a few. She seemed to be a collector of radical pamphlets, soaking up the righteous indignation to be found in them. Raven was not averse to the concept of change, to improving the lot of the downtrodden, but he remained sceptical of those who proposed easy answers to complex and seemingly intractable problems.

‘He thinks that the Church still has too much administrative power when it comes to dealing with the poor,’ Sarah said, as though Raven was in need of schooling on the subject. ‘The Poor Law makes provisions for the infirm but not the able-bodied unemployed; abandoned women with children receive no special consideration. Mr Hamilton favours a secular system of standardised state relief,’ she continued, a little too much admiration in her tone for Raven’s liking.

‘He’s brave if he thinks that he can take on the might of the Kirk and get away with it,’ Raven said. He could feel his irritation building, like an itchy rash. He had not come here to listen to Teddy Hamilton’s pontifications on the plight of the poor, of which Raven had considerably more practical knowledge. He was interested solely in what he might discover about the man himself, which was why he had asked Sarah if he might accompany her to the meeting. He had been explicit in his motives, filling her in on all he knew about Sir Ainsley’s death, and his mission, at Eugenie’s request, on Gideon’s behalf.

He looked at Teddy again, gathering up his notes at the podium. He was handsome, articulate and – perhaps most importantly – blessed with the correct accent and consequent enunciation. Cut from a certain cloth and therefore not so easily dismissed as a rabble-rouser, he was the kind of man people listened to.

Raven realised that if Teddy’s proselytising fervour was as real as it appeared, then it must have been a torment to remain silent and deferential in the presence of his uncle. Sir Ainsley’s money, power and influence represented everything Teddy and his political allies were going to have to overcome.

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