Mrs Caliban and other stories by Rachel Ingalls

Author:Rachel Ingalls [Rachel Ingalls]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571299836
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2012-10-14T04:00:00+00:00

‘Brother Adrian’, Francis said, ‘is in trouble. I think he’s going out of his mind, Frederick.’

‘No more than usual. And he’s always got emotional troubles. You know Adrian – that’s the way he is. He runs on it: it’s like a fuel. Francis, I want to ask you to help me with something.’

‘I don’t know how much good advice I’ve got left for today.’

‘I don’t need advice. What I’m going to need is your vote. I want to get William transferred.’

‘That would be hard on Anselm, just as his time is drawing so near.’

‘Francis, they’re planning to get married.’

‘Not yet. I think they’re going to wait till after the birth. To find out if Anselm reverts.’

‘Judas Priest, there’s no end to the ramifications. This whole thing has degenerated into a farce. It’s preposterous.’

‘It’s a mystery, Frederick. That’s what it was from the beginning, and that’s never changed. The rest is what we make out of it.’

‘No.’

‘We interpret and we explain. But the central fact is the only truth, and it’s inexplicable.’

‘It was a sign and I failed to act on it. I didn’t even see it till the business about William. Francis, I’ve missed the boat – I should have gone to a higher authority right at the beginning, and I didn’t. Now it’s too late. I didn’t recognize this as the great trial of my life – of all our lives. No, I don’t believe it’s a miracle, damn it. But I do believe it’s here to test us. And I’ve been found wanting.’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘In my own eyes, first of all. But what are the others going to say?’

‘They wouldn’t have acted any differently.’

‘Who knows? You never know these things till they happen. You say to yourself, “If. If.” But that’s no guide. Brother William has got to go.’

‘If we sent Brother Adrian away instead –’

‘He’s only an outside irritation. Brother William is about to become intimately involved.’

‘Do you dislike Anselm?’

‘Of course not. I resent the confusion he’s caused, that’s all. He causes it, I have to deal with it. If you can’t help me with William, it’s Anselm who’ll have to go. Either way, they’ve got to be kept apart.’

‘I just don’t see why.’

Frederick settled himself deeply into his chair. There were three ways he could appeal to Francis’s fears, hopes and sense of right. He prepared to use them all in the order of their power to tempt and persuade. He said, ‘Very well. We’ll go through it again till you do.’

*

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