“Does Mr. Barclay owe anything to me because I buy my shoes at his store?”
Mr. Ellison’s face shone with the prognostication of argumentative triumph. “Pree-cisely the point! He does. He owes you courtesy as a patron. You owe him courtesy as a patron. That article should, if I may express an opinion, have omitted his name.”
“I see. Because Mr. Barclay is an advertiser in The Guardian.”
“Quite so,” beamed Ellison.
“But I’m selling Mr. Barclay advertising, not news.”
“The courtesy due to an—”
“Pardon me. It’s no question of courtesy. The Guardian sells its news to its readers. It sells its advertising to its advertisers. You’ve got two different things badly mixed.”
Mr. Ellison looked crestfallen, but rallied to another and more direct argument. “Barclay & Bull intend withdrawing their advertising from The Guardian.”
“That’s their affair,” said Jeremy shortly.
“But, surely, my dear young friend, it is equally the affair of your paper.”