I say, my boy! Just as I say. From what you tell me there’s no doubt of it! You are a journalist.”
“Well,” he conceded gloomily, “I guess if you can establish my reputation from that, I could swear to what I’ve told you…. Oh, yes,” he added ironically, “and I forgot to tell you that I got up early in the morning and delivered papers when I was a kid.”
“Exactly! Exactly!” she nodded seriously—“you showed a talent for your present work right from the start. You have been trained in your profession since childhood.”
“Oh, my God!” he groaned. “What’s the use? Have it your own way, then. I can’t argue with you…. Only, for God’s sake, Countess, stop telling people around here that I am working for The New York Times.”
“Now, my boy, see here; you mustn’t be so modest about things. If you don’t learn to blow your own trumpet a little no one else will do it for you. As clever and brilliant as you are, you mustn’t be so self-effacing. What if you are not yet editor of The New York Times—?”
“Editor! Editor, hell! I’m not even office-boy!”
“But, of course, my dear!” she said patiently. “You will be some day. But at the present time you are a rising young journalist of great gifts, for whom all of your confrères of The Times are expecting a brilliant career—”
“Now, Countess, you look here—”
She waved her hand tolerantly with a dismissing gesture, and went on:
“All that will come,” she said. “You are still young—no one expects you to be editor yet.”
“You’ll have me editor if you talk much longer,” he said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t put it past you. But if you’re determined to tell people I’m a journalist, why drag in The New York Times? After all, I could pretend to be a journalist without feeling an utter fraud. So why drag in The Times?”
“Ah,” she said. “The Times is a great newspaper. People have heard of The Times. To say you are connected with The Times means something, carries prestige.”
“Well, if it’s prestige you want, why don’t you tell them I’m a college professor? You know, I did work as an instructor for a year in New York. If you told them I’m a professor I could at least feel a little less guilty.”
