Honeywood Settlement

by Creswell, H. B.

  TINGE, QUANTITY SURVEYOR, TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 8.10.26.

  Enclosed please find Statement. Copy has been sent to Mr. Grigblay.

  Yours faithfully,

  Tinge, at any rate, does not waste words. The Statement of Account, which must be long and intricate, is not in the file. It is no doubt put away with the contract documents.

  SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Sir, 9.10.26.

  I have received Statement of Account from Mr. Tinge showing total £20,242 11s. 9d. I shall be glad if you will confirm that you accept this figure.

  Yours faithfully,

  As Spinlove has already agreed with Grigblay the items making up the account, and Tinge is in the position of auditor, valuer, or assessor; Spinlove’s invitation to Grigblay to agree the figure Tinge has arrived at is little more than a formality though, as a matter of business, a necessary one. Tinge is expressly appointed under the contract to determine the total figure; and neither Grigblay nor Spinlove can object to the account unless it should appear that Tinge has misunderstood instructions or made any mistake.

  SPINLOVE TO BRASH

  Dear Sir Leslie Brash, 9.10.26.

  I have just received the Statement of Account and am very glad to be able to tell you that I have succeeded in saving nearly three hundred and fifty pounds off extras. The exact figure is £337 3s. 5d., making the account £1,555 11s. 2d., instead of £1,892 14s. 7d., which, you will remember, was the total originally shown. To this have to be added certain items which have come in since the original account was drawn up, totalling £54 2s. 2d.; and a few others that Grigblay accidentally omitted—value £l12 1s. 8d., so that, after allowing certain profits (£22 4s. 9d.) on the new items, the total figure shown is £1,753 19s. 9d., which, after including quantity surveyor’s fees (£58 12s.), gives a final total of £ 1,802 11s. 9d. I thought you might like to know the figures at once. With kind regards,

  Yours sincerely,

  Brash must have been glad Spinlove’s letter ended when it did, for the vaunted three hundred and fifty pound gain had already dwindled to £90, and, at the pace Spinlove was keeping, another half-dozen lines would have brought him to a three hundred and fifty pound loss. Whether Spinlove’s is the best method of making a saving on a building account appetizing to a client I am not psychologist enough to determine; but I am disposed to doubt it. If I wanted a hungry lion to receive the highest possible gratification from the gift of a cutlet, I should not first offer him a leg of mutton and then snatch it away.

  We have before noticed an adroitness in Spinlove on these occasions, which is so excessive as to be almost unholy. His persistency has no doubt saved Brash money; but the amount for which Spinlove claims credit is the whole of the difference between the totals of. the Interim Summary and of the totals of corresponding items in the Final Statement. This difference, however, is not due to Spinlove, but mainly to Grigblay’s wisdom in affixing full covering figures to those items in the Summary the exact value of which remained to be ascertained; and it is due to his foresight that, after the inevitable omissions and additions have been set against one another, the Final Statement shows a saving, and not an excess, on the Interim Summary. Spinlove, however, is perhaps unaware of this. With characteristic impulsiveness he rushes in front of the curtain without waiting to reflect whether he deserves the plaudits he invites. In view of his air of masterly elucidation, it is a pity he has made a slip of ten pounds in his manipulation of the figures. An architect who originates or passes inaccurate figures does himself very great damage for, obviously, his client would not entrust him with his affairs at all unless he had confidence in their being handled with exact care. It is to be understood that Spinlove is dealing only with the total of extras—£1,802 11s. 9d. This, added to the contract sum, £18,440, makes the total of the account £20,242 11s. 9d., which it may be mentioned is almost exactly the figure of probable least cost when the house was first projected.

  GRIGBLAY TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 14.10.26.

  We agree Account and Mr. Tinge’s figures of total cost, £20,242 11s. 9d., and balance due, £1,242 11s. 9d. As we shall be entitled to said balance on 10th November we shall be glad to have list of any defects outstanding so that we may now get contract completed.

  Yours faithfully,

  Grigblay has been paid by, installments a total of £19,000, and this balance due is, in main part, money held back as security for making good defects appearing within nine months of the date of of the work, which has been acknowledged by to be 10th February. Grigblay evidently means to have directly it is due on 10th November and his intention is no doubt braced by the dispute about Riddoppo. What we have is that Grigblay will demand his balance on 10th November, and that Brash will refuse payment on the ground that Riddoppo is a defect for which Grigblay is accountable.

  THE SMELLS RETURN

  LADY BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove, 10.10.26.

  They have all come back again and more than ever, even Phyllis says so now, and what is to be done I really do, not know as after the gentleman who came about them they all went away and Leslie said that was the end, but now I do not know what he will say as Mrs. Godolphin, who is staying here, notices them very much at night and it affects her breathing and I am the same, so it must be very bad and something must be done about it, but you will know best so will you say at once as it is so very unpleasant for everyone and cannot be allowed.

  How very cold the weather has been of late.

  Yours sincerely,

  SPINLOVE TO LADY BRASH

  Dear Lady Brash, 11.10.26.

  I understand from your letter that you still think there is something wrong with the drains, but that cannot possibly be the case as you will remember the question was definitely settled when the sanitary experts tested the drains five or six months ago. If there had been anything amiss they would certainly have discovered it, so you may dismiss the idea entirely and think no more about it. What you noticed is no doubt some smell from the kitchen. Are you sure the servants, to save trouble, do not use the range as a refuse-destructor—that is, bum fat and kitchen residues and rubbish there, instead of throwing them into the dustbin? They may do this before they leave the kitchen at night, and it may give rise to most unpleasant smells and should not be allowed, as it bums the fire-bars and cheeks.

  Yes, the weather has been wretchedly cold.

  Yours sincerely,

  This seems a most inadequate reply to Lady Brash’s letter.

  LADY BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove, 14.10.26.

  It is very kind of you to advise me not to trouble about them, but it is not the kitchen range, for I would never allow it and cook says she never does and it is much more in her bedroom which is why she complains so, and something must be done at once as poor Mrs. Godolphin left the house in a terrible fit of coughing as I knew she would, and even the doctor feared asthma and told her she should if it affected her so. It may still be the drains, he says, only no one will decide though I have spoken to Leslie time after time, but he comes home tomorrow I am thankful to say for something has got to be done or we shall all have to leave too.

  How chilly it is for this time of year, but the radiators are a godsend! Would it cost much to put one in the Ideal Attic—I wonder? The fire gives out no heat up there. I find, but then there are no smells there!

  Yours sincerely,

  MISS PHYLLIS BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Jazz, 14.10.26.

  Is it the architecture of the house that smells? If so, you ought to choose a different style: the Free Tudor, as you call it, is altogether too rather. Mum is getting herself into one of her states over it and you ought to come down and nose wound. It is no good sounding the “all’s well” any more. “All’s wrong” is the tuney, for we none of us like living in a third class in a S.R. tunnel. You must take this seriously, please, for it is serious.

  Yours,

  PUD.
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  SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Sir, 15.10.26.

  I enclose list of various small defects which have been standing over so that they might all be dealt with together. Sir Leslie Brash agrees with the list, and I have sent him a copy of it. Failure of Riddoppo was added by his orders. He understands, of course, that you do not intend to touch the paint.

  I have had further complaints of smells in the house. It seems that they are the old “drain” smells, but they are now stated to be much worse than they were before. I wish Mr. Grigblay would go to the house on an early day, as he is often in the neighbourhood, and see what it all means.

  Yours faithfully,

  Spinlove, as we remember, has held back the making good of defects until they should have fully developed, and so that all might be dealt with at one time, and he then, quite properly, obtained Brash’s agreement to what Grigblay was to be required to do. This is a most necessary step, not only as making sure that the client’s ideas will be satisfied and protecting the builder who is entitled to know definitely and finally what is required of him, but as putting the client in mind of a fact he is liable to forget namely, that the builder is not at his beck and call, but that there is a strict limit to the demands that can be made upon him.

  It is the duty of the architect to decide what work a builder shall be called upon to do in fulfilment of his covenant to make good defects. The list represents Spinlove’s requirements in this particular, and as he does not hold Grigblay to blame for the failure of Riddoppo, he ought not to include that item. It is important for an architect to maintain always a definite position and to be consistent and to act in exact accord with the forms prescribed by the contract, but when, as in this case, he knows he may have to justify himself to lawyers, he cannot be too cautious and circumspect. These miserable contests, however, invariably lead to cross-purposes and confusion, and we may suppose that if Spinlove had declined to put Riddoppo on the list he would have fallen out with Brash, and that he accordingly took the line of least resistance by including it and telling Grigblay it was understood he would ignore it. This is consistent with Spinlove’s policy, throughout the whole of the affair, of sitting on the fence; but he will cut a poor figure when lawyers begin pressing their questions.

  SPINLOVE TO LADY BRASH

  Dear Lady Brash, 15.10.26.

  I am so very sorry to know you are troubled with this unpleasant smell, and have arranged for Mr. Grigblay to can on an early day and make a thorough investigation of the cause which I am convinced cannot be far to seek.

  Yours sincerely,

  In spite of Pud’s endorsement of her mother’s complainings, it is clear that Spinlove still refuses to believe that the reported smells can be due to any defect in the building. In this, his native tenacity seems a little misplaced. He is wise, however, to make no reply to Lady Brash’s suggestion of a radiator in the converted boxroom, for such a radiator would be likely to develop the same defect as the fire does, and “give out no heat.” “Jazz” seems to have answered Pud’s letter in his own hand, for there is no copy of his reply on the file. He has disappointed us in this way, before.

  GRIGBLAY TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 16.10.26.

  We are obliged for list of defects requiring attention to complete contract and will put same in hand next week, except making good Riddoppo which, as we have stated, is no business of ours and which we respectfully refuse to do.

  Mr. Grigblay regrets he cannot take any further action re reported smells as he has already obliged once and could find nothing amiss except mischievousness by the servants, which has since been put right.

  Yours faithfully,

  Grigblay’s refusal to investigate the smells is natural. It is not many months since he put himself to some trouble to get to the bottom of complaints for which he could find no justification, and Spinlove’s peremptory manner of calling upon him to pacify Lady Brash a second time—which, in any case, is Spinlove’s job and not Grigblay’s—would properly dispose Grigblay to refuse the favour even if he were otherwise inclined to grant it.

  LADY BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove,16.10.26.

  I do not want Mr. Grigblay to call any more; he does not wait to listen to me but only says there is nothing wrong and it will be all right in the summer, and goes away and nothing is done and all getting worse and worse every day and the fire giving out no heat no matter how much coal so that I cannot sit there it is so freezing, with the cisterns making a new noise and I lie awake and keep wondering what is happening when I am not there, so will you send some proper person at once to say what it all means, as Leslie comes home to-morrow and will naturally want to know why it all is when he hears about it. You have been most kind and considerate I know, but now at last it must really stop for I cannot bear any more.

  So depressing with the leaves falling and this cold wind!

  Yours sincerely,

  The poor lady is fast getting into one of her “states.” In spite of her rambling ambiguities we may understand that it is the smells that are the trouble. There seems to be no doubt that something is wrong; and it may be that if Spinlove had applied himself to mastering the cause of the complaint when it was first made, instead of discountenancing it and allowing the tough sensibilities of Grigblay to discredit the delicate perceptions of the lady, he would have saved his clients some annoyance, and himself much trouble.

  BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove, 19.10.26.

  I returned yesterday from the Shire [sic] where I have been engaged in company with various sporting acquaintances in beguiling the wily partridge. A number of hares also fell to my bag, and I was fortunate in securing a polecat—an exploit which my host is commemorating by having the creature set up by Rowlands. The event is the subject of a paragraph in this week’s Field, you will notice.

  Your communication anent extras was forwarded on to me, and I now write to intimate my satisfaction at the amount of the final total. I confess that I anticipated that the previous summary would again be eventually increased, and my gratification at your intimation that there is a reduction of £90 on the previously estimated figure, is considerable. There is also, I have noted, the additional saving of £92 in respect of overpayment for bricks which you previously reported, making £182 in all. May I point out that the figure £1,753 should be £1,743? This error does not, however, affect the ultimate total of extras £1,802 11s. 9d., which I take to be final and to represent my inclusive liabilities excepting the residual balance of your own outstanding fees of which I shall be glad to receive particulars

  Anent the list of defects, the question of responsibility for the Riddoppo failure has the further attention of my solicitor from whom I expect shortly to receive a communication.

  I must now, I regret to intimate, request your attention to a serious matter. On my return home I find that the malodorous emanations have returned with such virulence that the whole domicile is involved, our domestic staff almost in revolt, and Lady Brash so affected in health that immediate change of air is imperative and she is leaving for Brighton to-morrow.

  In the past there has been some doubt as to the existence of unsavoury effluviums, but that doubt no longer persists as both my daughter and myself have experienced disgusting vapours in various parts of the house, which are particularly obnoxious at night and in the early morning. The matter now brooks no further protracted delay and, as a first step towards elimination, I request that you will on the earliest day possible come and $,imp in the house and apply your trained discernments to the identification of these nauseating savours the repulsiveness of which, if they continue, will render the house permanently uninhabitable. I shall therefore anticipate a telephone message from you to-morrow signifying the earliest day on which we may expect you.

  Yours sincerely,

  A remarkably urbane letter under the circumstances! Brash’s beguiling of the wily partridge, and his newly acquired polecat fame, seem to
have given ballast to his moral equilibrium; but his surprising acceptance of the extras account must be due to other causes, and supplies an instance of the entirely unexpected that so commonly happens. It was not to be expected that a reduction of £182—as he supposes-would reconcile Brash to the claim for £1,900 which he had so hotly repudiated; yet this appears to be the case, and the explanation, stripped of the subtleties with which the psychologist would load it, seems plain. First, Brash has already exhausted his indignation at the extras; blown off all his steam; fussed away all his available fuss: he is heartily sick of the subject and, having had a respite of some weeks, has no wish to lash himself into a renewal of his grievance. This is a common weakness in men who have not the habit of self-control. Second, as he tells us, he had made up his mind that the estimate of extras supplied him would prove to be a mere stepping-stone, or hay-way house, to a much larger final claim as, except for Grigblay’s honest good sense in preparing the Interim Summary, it might well have been; and the fact that the worst is revealed to be so much better than was expected, has reconciled Brash to the figure and led him to forget how unacceptable it once seemed. Third, with the serious contest over the paint unsettled and the new trouble of the inexplicable smells to be disposed of, he is glad to be quit of the question of extras.