ruthlessness. In his thirties he had played superbly, as good at love as he was at tennis. Now arrogant, now innocent, he had swooped and struck, captured and killed; and smiled over many a breakfast at the beauty that had been his prize.
They finished their tea. ‘I am slipping along to the County for a drink,’ said the General. ‘Do join me for a quick one.’
‘How kind of you. I must not delay though. My sister will expect me.’ And they climbed into Mrs Hope-Kingley’s small car and drove to the hotel. Over their gins the General spoke of his early days in the army and touched upon his present life, naming Mrs Hinch.
‘What a frightful woman! You must sack her.’
‘But who would do for me? I need my bed made and the place kept clean. Women are not easy to find in the country.’
‘I know a Mrs Gall who lives in your district. She has the reputation of being particularly reliable. My friends the Boddingtons use her.’
‘Well, that is certainly a thought. D’you know, I had become quite reconciled to Hinch. I never thought to change her really. What a breath of life you are!’
After three double gins Mrs Hope-Kingley was slightly drunk. Her face flushed with pleasure. Compliments do not come your way too often these days, thought the General; and he ambled off to the bar to clinch the matter with a further drink. How absurd to be upset by the passing details of the day! What did it all matter, now that he had found this promising lady? The day and its people, so directed against him, were balanced surely by this meeting? With her there was strength; from her side he might look out on the world with power and with confidence. In a panic of enthusiasm he almost suggested marriage. His hands were shaking and he felt again a surge of the old arrogance. There is life in the old dog yet, he thought. Handing her her drink, he smiled and winked.
‘After this I must go,’ the lady said.
‘Come, come, the night is younger than we are. It is not every day I can pick up a bundle of charms in a teashop.’
‘Ha, ha, ha.’ Mrs Hope-Kingley purred, thinking that for once her sister would simply have to wait, and wondering if she should dare to tell her that she had been drinking with an elderly soldier.
They were sitting at a small table in a corner. Now and again, it could have been an accident, the General’s knee touched hers. He watched the level of gin lower in her glass. ‘You are a pretty lady,’ murmured the General, and beneath the table his hand stroked her stockinged knee and ventured a little beyond it.
‘My God!’ said Mrs Hope-Kingley, her face like a beetroot. The General lowered his head. He heard her snatch her handbag from the seat beside him. When he looked up she was gone.
*
‘When were you born?’ General Suffolk asked the man in the bus.
The man seemed startled. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘nineteen-oh-three actually.’
‘No, no, no. What month? When does your birthday fall?’
‘Well, October the 21st actually.’
‘Libra by a day,’ the General informed him, consulting his newspaper as he spoke. ‘For tomorrow, there are to be perfect conditions for enjoying yourself; though it may be a little expensive. Don’t gamble.’
‘I see,’ said the man, glancing in embarrassment through the window.
‘Patrelli is usually reliable.’
The man nodded, thinking: The old fellow is drunk. He was right: the General was drunk.
‘I do not read the stars every day,’ General Suffolk explained. ‘It is only when I happen upon an evening paper. I must say I find Patrelli the finest augur of the lot. Do you not agree?’
The man made an effort to smile, muttering something incomprehensible.
‘What’s that, what’s that? I cannot hear you.’
‘I don’t know at all. I don’t know about such matters.’
‘You are not interested in the stars?’
The man shook his head.
‘In that case, I have been boring you.’
‘No, no –’
‘If you were not interested in my conversation you should have said so. It is quite simple to say it. I cannot understand you.’
‘I’m sorry –’
‘I do not like to offend people. I do not like to be a nuisance. You should have stopped me, sir.’
The man made a gesture vague in its meaning.
‘You have taken advantage of an old warrior.’
‘I cannot see –’
‘You should have halted me. It costs nothing to speak.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Think nothing of it. Think nothing of it at all. Here is my village. If you are dismounting, would you care to join me in a drink?’
