The coal account

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Ruth found Mr Gresham at the centre of a remarkably orderly desk. His pencils lay parallel beside the ruler; his letters were arranged according to size; even the coal dust on his sleeve appeared to have settled in a straight line. He did not offer her a chair.

"Mrs Preece owes seven shillings and fourpence," he said, keeping his eyes on the ledger.

Ruth explained that the widow's youngest child was ill and that there had been no fire in the house for three days. Mr Gresham placed one finger beneath the unpaid sum. His clerk, seated on the high stool, glanced from the ledger to Ruth.

"Kindness, Miss Hale, is not a method of keeping accounts."

The sentence sounded prepared, as though he had used it often enough to polish away any doubt. He asked the clerk to carry a message to the yard. Only when the young man's footsteps had faded did Mr Gresham turn the ledger towards Ruth.

With a stroke of red ink, he crossed through Mrs Preece's debt. In the margin he wrote, "Two sacks torn during unloading: allowance made." Ruth, who had watched the delivery, knew that every sack had arrived whole.

Beneath this, he added another instruction: "Two sacks. No charge. Deliver after sunset."

"You will tell Mrs Preece that the first account was mistaken," he said. "You will not tell her that you came here."

Ruth began to thank him, but he raised the ruler between them.

"The column balances now. That is all."

His voice had recovered its former flatness, yet his hand remained over the false entry until the red ink dried.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to establish Mr Gresham's authority and make his final decision open to different interpretations. Support your answer with references to the passage.