Private Message to Virgil Crispin
Oct. 25th, 2010 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alt_luciusImpossible to pry Ned away from Crouch; had already explored that option, thank you, as it was my first thought on recovering from news of your imminent departure. Apparently Crouch lost no time after catching wind of your defection before immediately offering a rise in salary and a host of other benefits - which strictly speaking he is not authorised to promise - in anticipation that I might seek to replace you quickly with someone I already know to be qualified. Reminded Ned at the week-end of Crouch’s limitations in making good his proffered advantages, to which he replied only that he believed Crouch capable of either forcing the issue through Hopkirk or supplementing Ned’s profile himself. Also mentioned the preferment available to him should he remain at the Ministry in such a visible post.
Once again you see how the implications of your methods continue to compromise my affairs and jeopardise a smooth and speedy transition.
We have already spoken of the magnitude of your mis-calculation so I shall not belabour it here. Still I cannot understand how you might imagine your covert activities could not fail to disrupt the important business requiring my attention nor, particularly in this case, cause me personal embarrassment in the face of colleagues. I suppose we are both lucky that as circumstances would have it, you managed to find your courage before I had made a liar of myself by denying any hint that you had accepted another position. Nonetheless I believe the difficulties now apparent from such hasty notice make clear to you how much you still have to learn - which had you chosen to conduct an orderly and above-board progression in your career, I might have been able to provide opportunities to remedy. I regret that nearly six years of overall successful and productive service should end on this sour note.
It is of course natural that you should wish to rise: A man with no ambitions has no drive to succeed. What I cannot countenance is that you felt you had to hide your aspirations, and further that you enlisted the aid of your prospective employers in deceiving me as to the nature of their inquiries. Such duplicity may be applauded when deployed for the advancement of one’s prescribed duties; it becomes insulting when it is used in pursuit of personal gain to the detriment of one’s principal, when no treachery was required. Further it extracted from me references that, had I known exactly whence the request derived, I might have been able to temper to place you in a better bargaining position when their offer arrived.
I should have every right to rescind my former praises of your ability and capacity and to inform you that you may not look here for future recommendation. As it is, I find myself ... undecided whether to take so hard a line, despite the wrong you have brought upon my household. You have within your hands the opportunity to redeem my opinion of you, particularly as you enter a sphere which I have limited time or resources to personally influence. If you truly wish to restore my regard for you and for the length and effectiveness of your service, you will consider carefully the offer we discussed this morning.
Meanwhile, time grows short to engage a replacement while you are able to provide basic orientation. I assume you are willing to devote all or part of the week-end if we cannot find a suitable candidate until Friday? Kindly narrow the field to your top three and clear my calendar for Wednesday - with the exception of court if you please - for interviews.
Once again you see how the implications of your methods continue to compromise my affairs and jeopardise a smooth and speedy transition.
We have already spoken of the magnitude of your mis-calculation so I shall not belabour it here. Still I cannot understand how you might imagine your covert activities could not fail to disrupt the important business requiring my attention nor, particularly in this case, cause me personal embarrassment in the face of colleagues. I suppose we are both lucky that as circumstances would have it, you managed to find your courage before I had made a liar of myself by denying any hint that you had accepted another position. Nonetheless I believe the difficulties now apparent from such hasty notice make clear to you how much you still have to learn - which had you chosen to conduct an orderly and above-board progression in your career, I might have been able to provide opportunities to remedy. I regret that nearly six years of overall successful and productive service should end on this sour note.
It is of course natural that you should wish to rise: A man with no ambitions has no drive to succeed. What I cannot countenance is that you felt you had to hide your aspirations, and further that you enlisted the aid of your prospective employers in deceiving me as to the nature of their inquiries. Such duplicity may be applauded when deployed for the advancement of one’s prescribed duties; it becomes insulting when it is used in pursuit of personal gain to the detriment of one’s principal, when no treachery was required. Further it extracted from me references that, had I known exactly whence the request derived, I might have been able to temper to place you in a better bargaining position when their offer arrived.
I should have every right to rescind my former praises of your ability and capacity and to inform you that you may not look here for future recommendation. As it is, I find myself ... undecided whether to take so hard a line, despite the wrong you have brought upon my household. You have within your hands the opportunity to redeem my opinion of you, particularly as you enter a sphere which I have limited time or resources to personally influence. If you truly wish to restore my regard for you and for the length and effectiveness of your service, you will consider carefully the offer we discussed this morning.
Meanwhile, time grows short to engage a replacement while you are able to provide basic orientation. I assume you are willing to devote all or part of the week-end if we cannot find a suitable candidate until Friday? Kindly narrow the field to your top three and clear my calendar for Wednesday - with the exception of court if you please - for interviews.