|
There was an old man in a whitewaistcoat standing in the door. She had a short
straightnose and blue eyes very wide apart. People were sitting on the floor,
on chairs, on office stools. She put her hand to her head: as ifId been in
another world! How hes to live,where hes to live, she went on.
She shook
acushion; coins rolled out onto the floor.
They were staying with Connie, she
went on, whowas expecting Jimmy, who was home from Uganda .
He had a way of
blowing his cheeks in and out, ashe said tut-tut-tut and chew-chew-chew.
The
couples broke apart and beganto push their way through the door.
He was looking
at a couple at thefurther end of the room.
He felt a strong desire to cry out,
Take care! I like you in those clothes, he said, looking at herIndian
cloak.
They were inviting him to stay with them at the Towers in Septemberfor
cub-hunting. She had to stop; to put her hand into that shapeless paw. Hewould
save her from the contamination of family life. But healths not an end in
itself, he said,looking up at her. He remembered his master saying, Mark
thelong word at the end of the sentence. She had to stop; to put her hand into
that shapeless paw. She sawhis thin cheek; his big nose; his nails, she
noticed, were veryclose cut.
Directly something got together, itbroke. So when
I was a child; so when I was a girl; its been a perpetualdiscovery, my life. In
particular he wanted to avoid hissister Peggy; but there she was, standing
alone by the door. Nothing wasfixed; nothing was known; life was open and free
before them. How thencan we be civilised, he asked himself?
So a girl hadcome
in that night in the restaurant: had stood, vibrating, in thedoor.
A glazed
look, a fixed _expression_, had come over her face.
And beside her Maggie was
talking; North was talking;Eleanor was talking. Marriage isnt for everyone,
Eleanor interrupted. He was still smiling, but his smile smoothed itself out as
shelooked at him.
Doctors know very little about the body; absolutelynothing
about the mind. And you, young man, I hope you takeplenty of exercise?
In order
to cover her loneliness shetook down a book.
|
