‘John, I do not mean to interrupt, but I’m not questioning your ability. Unfortunately, the situation we find ourselves in is political, and there’s no way around that. I would go so far as to say we are fighting for survival. We spent sixty thousand pounds on that embankment, only to see it washed away.’

‘One cannot put a monetary value on the human cost,’ said Gunson quietly.

‘No, indeed one cannot. However, this Rawlinson report has handed the town all the ammunition it requires to—’, he broke off and leaned forward in his seat, ‘—do you know, the town is gaining support for a compulsory purchase, claiming that because the embankment was poorly built that means that this company is unfit for purpose? That we should be monitored like infants?’

Gunson could imagine it all too well. ‘If you are alluding to Mr Webster, I would say that man produces more hot air than the furnaces at Atlas Works.’

‘You are a friend of his, or you were, before the inquest.’

‘He is an acquaintance of long standing, no more.’

‘Well, there is to be this public meeting over our bill to Parliament and Webster and his ilk will take advantage of this opportunity to call for the waterworks to be taken into public ownership. I wonder if we can influence Mr Webster’s mind? Perhaps sit down with him, away from the public arena, and press upon him how seriously we take the terrible responsibility of holding in our hands the sole supply of an indispensable necessity of life?’ He wiped a handkerchief across his brow. ‘I am sorry, as you can see, I feel quite passionately about our little endeavour.’

Gunson waited for the chairman’s breathing to calm.

‘Mr Smith, am I still the chief engineer of this company?’

‘Why, yes, of course. We can’t allow the townspeople to believe shoddy workmanship caused this catastrophe, and sacking you would only reinforce that… mistaken impression.’

‘The dam was sound,’ said Gunson. ‘The fault lay with an underground—’

‘Yes, yes. As I have already said, you possess great natural abilities and your extreme conscientiousness is not in doubt. I have not called you in today for an appraisal.’

Gunson felt the tremor in his hand again, the intermittent palsy that had afflicted him ever since the flood, but he kept his voice steady. ‘My chief pleasure has always been in my work, in building dams.’

‘Oh, I did not ask you to attend my office to remove you!’ The chairman laughed.

Gunson wiped his face. ‘Then why?’

‘It is nothing really, a trifle. As I was saying, I’d simply like you to renew your friendship with Mr Webster, to see whether the man can be brought around to our way of thinking. He’s a man of the people, a judge, a councillor, a champion of the poor. You can help him to recognise that we act only in the best interests of the town. Clean water for everyone is our priority, not profits. Somebody like you, John, who doesn’t have a political bone in his body, is just the man for the job.’