Page 152 of The Armor of Light

‘I’ll remind him of that night.’

‘You only did it once.’

‘Every pregnancy is the result of one act of intercourse.’

‘Will he be fooled?’

‘I think so,’ she said again.

*

The clothiers met again a week later, in the same place at the same time.

Spade felt that the fact of an agreement would be more important than its terms. It would establish the union as useful to both masters and hands.

Mayor Fishwick reported on the discussions. ‘First of all,’ he said, ‘the hands made two demands which, we had to tell them, the masters would never agree to.’

This way of presenting the information had been Spade’s idea.

‘They asked for the Irish to be sent away.’

Hornbeam said: ‘Out of the question.’

Fishwick ignored the interruption. ‘We explained that this is up to Alderman Hornbeam. Although some clothiers might agree that the Irish should go home, we don’t have the power to command Mr Hornbeam.’

Someone muttered: ‘Too true.’

‘Second, they demanded that hands thrown out of work should be given parish relief without having to enter Kingsbridge workhouse.’

The hands hated the workhouse. It was cold and uncomfortable,and most of all it humiliated its residents. It was not much different from a prison.

‘Once again,’ Fishwick said, ‘we had to explain that we have no jurisdiction over parish relief, which is controlled by the Church.’

Spade had proposed this approach because he knew the clothiers would be reassured to hear that the group had stoutly resisted some of the hands’ demands. It would make them more compliant when they heard the rest.

‘Now I come to a third demand, which I recommend we accept,’ Fishwick went on. ‘They want hands who are displaced by machines to be given priority for alternative work. If we agree, the council of aldermen – of which most of us here are members – might pass a resolution saying that this is the required procedure in Kingsbridge. This would ease the present crisis and make it easier for all of us to introduce new machinery in the future.’

Spade was watching the faces, and he saw that most agreed with this.

‘In order that this system may work smoothly, two further suggestions were made. One, that before new machinery is installed the master should explain it to the hands and discuss how many people will work on the machine and how many will be displaced by it.’

Hornbeam was predictably scathing. ‘So I have to consult with the hands before I buy a new machine? Ludicrous!’

Amos said: ‘Some of us do this anyway. It oils the wheels.’

Hornbeam snorted in disgust.

‘And two,’ Fishwick continued, ‘that representatives of masters and hands should monitor compliance by the two sides in future, so that any trouble may be resolved before it becomes a dispute.’

This was a new idea, quite at odds with the way most of them were used to relating to their hands. However, only Hornbeam spoke against it. ‘You will make masters out of the hands,’ he said in a tone of scorn. ‘And hands out of the masters.’

Fishwick looked exasperated. ‘The people around this table aren’t fools, Hornbeam,’ he said with irritation. ‘We can manage a relationship of cooperation without becoming slaves.’

There was a murmur of agreement.

Hornbeam threw his hands up in a gesture of defeat. ‘Go ahead,’ he said. ‘Who am I to stand in your way?’

Spade was satisfied. This was the outcome Sal and Jarge were expecting, and it would end the strike. The union had become an established part of the Kingsbridge cloth business. But he had one more thing to say. ‘The hands are pleased to have reached agreement, but they did make it clear that there must be no attempt to punish strike leaders. That, I fear, would completely undermine the deal.’