“Only if she’s asked, of course, and provided it doesn’t anger anyone.”
“Oh, Mrs. Dowell would be more than pleased, I’m sure, for her to read some of her work. I’ll see what she says, but I know there will be no problem.”
The librarian smiled reassuringly. She had reasserted herself against the threat of equality. Beckman thanked her with servile politeness, just short of the comic, and started for the door, stopping there before going out, and looking back briefly to enjoy the sight of the librarian making her way to the head librarian’s office with the seeded copy of Song and Saber in her hand.
Beckman found the print shop empty of customers. A young man dressed like a manager, and none too eager, kept looking up from his desk as though he expected Beckman to leave, which, after a se
