75 лучших рассказов / 75 Best Short Stories

Two men came in, stepped across him, and made for the farther corner. A young fellow swung his golf clubs into the rack and sat down opposite. The train gave a gentle lurch, they were off. William glanced up and saw the hot, bright station slipping away. A red-faced girl raced along by the carriages, there was something strained and almost desperate in the way she waved and called. ‘Hysterical!’ thought William dully. Then a greasy, black-faced workman at the end of the platform grinned at the passing train. And William thought, ‘A filthy life!’ and went back to his papers.

When he looked up again there were fields, and beasts standing for shelter under the dark trees. A wide river, with naked children splashing in the shallows, glided into sight and was gone again. The sky shone pale, and one bird drifted high like a dark fleck in a jewel.

‘We have examined our client’s correspondence files…’ The last sentence he had read echoed in his mind. ‘We have examined…’ William hung on to that sentence, but it was no good; it snapped in the middle, and the fields, the sky, the sailing bird, the water, all said, ‘Isabel.’ The same thing happened every Saturday afternoon. When he was on his way to meet Isabel there began those countless imaginary meetings. She was at the station, standing just a little apart from everybody else; she was sitting in the open taxi outside; she was at the garden gate; walking across the parched grass; at the door, or just inside the hall.

And her clear, light voice said, ‘It’s William,’ or ‘Hillo, William!’ or ‘So William has come!’ He touched her cool hand, her cool cheek.

The exquisite freshness of Isabel! When he had been a little boy, it was his delight to run into the garden after a shower of rain and shake the rose-bush over him. Isabel was that rose-bush, petal-soft, sparkling and cool. And he was still that little boy. But there was no running into the garden now, no laughing and shaking. The dull, persistent gnawing in his breast started again. He drew up his legs, tossed the papers aside, and shut his eyes.

‘What is it, Isabel? What is it?’ he said tenderly. They were in their bedroom in the new house. Isabel sat on a painted stool before the dressing-table that was strewn with little black and green boxes.

‘What is what, William?’ And she bent forward, and her fine light hair fell over her cheeks.

‘Ah, you know!’ He stood in the middle of the room and he felt a stranger. At that Isabel wheeled round quickly and faced him.

‘Oh, William!’ she cried imploringly, and she held up the hair-brush: ‘Please! Please don’t be so dreadfully stuffy and – tragic. You’re always saying or looking or hinting that I’ve changed. Just because I’ve got to know really congenial people, and go about more, and am frightfully keen on – on everything, you behave as though I’d—’ Isabel tossed back her hair and laughed – ‘killed our love or something. It’s so awfully absurd’ – she bit her lip – ‘and it’s so maddening, William. Even this new house and the servants you grudge me.’

‘Isabel!’

‘Yes, yes, it’s true in a way,’ said Isabel quickly. ‘You think they are another bad sign. Oh, I know you do. I feel it,’ she said softly, ‘every time you come up the stairs. But we couldn’t have gone on living in that other poky little hole, William. Be practical, at least! Why, there wasn’t enough room for the babies even.’

No, it was true. Every morning when he came back from chambers it was to find the babies with Isabel in the back drawing-room. They were having rides on the leopard skin thrown over the sofa back, or they were playing shops with Isabel’s desk for a counter, or Pad was sitting on the hearthrug rowing away for dear life with a little brass fire shovel, while Johnny shot at pirates with the tongs. Every evening they each had a pick-a-back up the narrow stairs to their fat old Nanny.

Yes, he supposed it was a poky little house. A little white house with blue curtains and a window-box of petunias. William met their friends at the door with ‘Seen our petunias? Pretty terrific for London, don’t you think?’

The train stopped at another station. Bettingford. Good heavens But the imbecile thing, the absolutely extraordinary thing was that he hadn’t the slightest idea that Isabel wasn’t as happy as he. God, what blindness! He hadn’t the remotest notion in those days that she really hated that inconvenient little house that she thought the fat Nanny was ruining the babies that she was desperately lonely, pining for new people and new music and pictures and so on. If they hadn’t gone to that studio party at Moira Morrison’s – if Moira Morrison hadn’t said as they were leaving, ‘I’m going to rescue your wife, selfish man. She’s like an exquisite little Titania’ [401] – if Isabel hadn’t gone with Moira to Paris – if – if…