they must buy,” said Mrs. Ali. She appeared agitated, twirling a completed basket at the end of her long slender fingers. “There is profit in panic, I suppose.”
“You appeared to be somewhat in distress yesterday,” he said. “I came to see whether everything was all right.”
“Things are… difficult,” she said at last. “Difficult, but possibly also very good.” He waited for her to elaborate, finding himself curious in a way that was entirely unfamiliar. He did not change the conversation, as he would have done if Alec or some other friend had ventured to hint at some personal difficulty. He waited and hoped that she would continue.
“I’ve finished polishing the apples,” said a small voice. The boy, George, came from the back of the store holding a clean duster in one hand and a small green apple in the other. “This one is much smaller than the others,” he added.
“That is just much too small to sell, then,” said Mrs. Ali. “Would you like to eat it up for me?”
“Yes, please,” said George, his facing breaking into a large grin. “I’ll go and wash it.” He walked to the back of the shop. Mrs. Ali watched him all the way and the Major watched her as her face relaxed into a smile.
“I would say you have a special touch with children,” said the Major. “However, in the case of straight bribery one should reserve judgment.” He had meant to make her laugh, but when she looked up at him her face was grave. She smoothed her hands along her skirt and he noticed that her hand trembled.
“I have to tell you something,” she began. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone, but if I do, perhaps it will help make things real….” Her voice died away and she examined the backs of her hands as if searching for her lost thought among the faint blue veins.
“You don’t have to tell me anything,” he said. “But be assured anything you choose to tell me will be kept in complete confidence.”
“I am in some confusion, as you can see,” she said, looking at him again with just a hint of her usual smile. He waited. “Amina and George stayed with us last night,” she began. “It turns out that George is my great-nephew. He is Abdul Wahid’s son.”
“Is he indeed?” said the Major, feigning ignorance.
“How could I not have guessed, not have felt it?” she said. “And yet now, with a word from Amina, I am welded to this small boy by a deep love.”
“Are you sure it’s the truth?” said the Major. “Only there are cases, you know—people do take advantage and so on.”
“Little George has my husband’s nose.” She blinked, but a tear escaped and rolled down her left cheek. “It was right there but I couldn’t see it.”
“So you are to be congratulated?” asked the Major. He had not meant to phrase it as a question.
“I thank you, Major,” she said. “But I cannot escape the fact that this brings shame on my family, and I would understand if you preferred not to continue our acquaintance.”
“Nonsense; such a thought never crossed my mind,” said the Major. He could feel himself blushing at this small lie. He was doing his best to squelch the uncomfortable desire to slide out of the shop and free himself from what was, however you looked at it, a slightly sordid business.
“Such humiliations should not happen in good families,” she said.
“Oh, it’s been going on for a thousand years,” interrupted the Major, feeling the need to bluff himself as well as her. “The Victorians were worse than the rest, of course.”
“But the shame does seem so trivial compared to that beautiful child.”
“People are always complaining about the loosening of moral standards,” the Major went on. “But my wife always insisted that prior generations were just as lax—they were merely more furtive.”
“I knew Abdul Wahid was sent away because he was in love with some girl,” she said. “But I never knew there was to be a child.”
“Did he know?” asked the Major.
“He says not.” Her face darkened. “A family will do many things to protect their children, and I fear life has been made very difficult for this young woman.” There was silence as the Major searched in vain for some useful words of comfort. “Anyway, they are here now, Amina and George, and I must make things right.”
“What will you do?” asked the Major. “I mean, you hardly know anything about this young woman.”
“I know I must keep them here, while we find out,” Mrs. Ali said, her chin lifted in an attractive arc of decisiveness. He recognized a woman on a mission. “They will stay with me for at least a week, and if Abdul wants to continue sleeping in the car, that is what he will have to do.”
“Sleeping in the car?”
“My nephew insists he cannot sleep under my roof with an unmarried woman, so he slept in the car,” said Mrs. Ali. “I pointed out the obvious, inconsistency in his thinking, but his new religiosity permits him to be stubborn.”
“But why have them stay at all?” asked the Major. “Can’t they just visit?”
“I fear if they go back to town, they may disappear again,” she said. “Amina seems very highly strung and she says her aunt is practically hysterical with people asking questions about her.”
“I suppose renting a room at the pub is not allowed,” said the Major. The landlord of the Royal Oak offered two flowery bedrooms under the eaves and a hearty full breakfast served in the slightly sticky bar area.
“Abdul Wahid has threatened to go to town and ask the Imam for a bed, which would mean our business would be the gossip of the entire community.” She covered her face with her hands and said softly, “Why must he be so stubborn?”
“Look here, if it’s really important to you to keep them all here, how about your nephew coming to stay with me for a few days?” The Major surprised himself with the offer, which seemed to emerge of its own accord. “I have a spare room—he wouldn’t be in my way.”
“Oh, Major, it is too much to expect,” said Mrs. Ali. “I could not trespass this way on your kindness.” Her face, however, had lit up with anticipation. The Major was already deciding to put the young man in Roger’s old room. The spare room was rather cold, as it was north facing, and the bed had a few suspicious holes in one leg that he had been meaning to investigate. It wouldn’t do to have a guest fall out of bed because of woodworm.
“Look, it’s really no trouble,” he said. “And if it helps you resolve this problem, I’m glad to be of service.”
“I will be entirely in your debt, Major.” She stood up from her stool, came close and laid her hand on his arm. “I cannot express my gratitude.” The Major felt warmth spreading up his arm. He kept still, as if a butterfly had alighted on his elbow. For a moment nothing existed but the feel of her breath and the sight of his own face on her dark eyes.
“ Well, it’s quite all right.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze.
“You are a most astonishing man,” she said, and he realized he had inspired a sense of trust and indebtedness that would make it entirely impossible for an honorable man to attempt to kiss her anytime soon. He cursed himself for a fool.
It was dark when Abdul Wahid knocked at the door of Rose Lodge. He was carrying a few belongings rolled tightly in a small prayer rug tied with a canvas strap. He looked as if he were used to rolling his life up in this simple bundle.
“Do come in,” said the Major.
“You are very kind,” said the young man, who wore the same frown as usual. He carefully removed his battered brown slip-on shoes and placed them under the hallstand. The Major knew this was a sign of respect for his home, but he felt embarrassed by the intimacy of a stranger’s feet in damp socks. He had a sudden vision of the village ladies leaving imprints of their stockings in coven circles on his polished boards. He was glad his own feet were encased in stout wool slippers.
Leading the way upstairs, he decided to show the nephew to the north-facing spare room after all. Roger’s room, with its old blue rug and the good desk with the writing lamp, seemed suddenly too luxurious and soft for this hard-faced young man.
“Will this do?” he asked, surreptitiously kicking the weak bed leg to make sure it was sturdy and no dust fell from the wormholes. The thin mattress, the pine chest of drawers, and the single print of flowers on one wall seemed suitably monastic.
“You are too kind.” Abdul Wahid deposited his few belongings gently on the bed.
