The Catherine Wheel by Elizabeth Harrower

Author:Elizabeth Harrower [Harrower, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION
ISBN: 9781922148957
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2014-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

Oh Lord! The wireless! I snatched at the knob. At a signal, Bertrand turned on the central light and everything became more real—and worse.

‘Do you love her?’ Olive demanded.

He seemed to shrink. ‘Don’t pin me down, Olive. Don’t blame the girl. She wasn’t a willing party. I forced her.’

‘You see!’ she flashed at me. ‘He won’t deny it. He’s afraid you won’t give him lessons if he does.’

Lessons!

His powerful frame diminished against the wall, beside Olive, Christian pleaded with her, hands out in apologetic explanation, palms upturned. ‘Don’t blame the girl!’

‘She was enjoying it!’ Olive cried, turning on me viciously, and Bertrand, planted by the door, caught my eye.

‘Do you want her instead of me?’ Olive’s voice was hammering away at a beaten young man I hardly recognized.

Gone the shine, the gold, the glowing confidence. Hesitant, as if he was suddenly deaf and blind and baited, he slumped against the wall. The broad forehead, even the classical bones of his face, had altered.

‘No, of course, he doesn’t love me,’ I sounded impatient. ‘He’d had some wine or it would never have happened.’

‘That’s why I was frightened of this,’ she muttered, mollified in the faintest possible degree. ‘Sober, I can trust him, but not like this. But, anyway, I’m going! I’m packing tonight! This isn’t the first time this has happened.’

‘What did you say? When? When?’ he rallied slightly, glancing at me. ‘But, no, Olive. You’re not to go. I can’t manage alone. What would happen to me?’

Olive said, ‘This is what I’ve suspected all the time. This is why I haven’t wanted him to come for lessons. So I came this afternoon. And look what I found. Making love! Was this the first time?’

‘Yes, of course,’ he said wearily.

Sallow and gaunt in her black coat, with her dark hair hanging, Olive turned to me again. ‘Do you love him, Clem? Do you want him?’

I hesitated, in no doubt, but profoundly unwilling to submit to questioning by that voice, those steamy eyes. However, though I could have shrieked at her for turning him even temporarily into this craven parody of himself, I had no wish for her to carry out her threat and leave him tonight.

‘No, Olive. My life is planned. I do have a separate existence, you know. I like Christian, but that’s all.’

Her look suggested that this was implausible but welcome news. She murmured with quiet satisfaction, ‘So does everyone.’

Indeed? Was that so? I thought, stung by the smug dismissal, the relegation to the ranks, the insinuation that I was one of the crowd. A dozen truncated and edgy rejections of this picture shot in and out of my head.

‘You don’t want him?’ she repeated, staring hazel-eyed with demented solemnity. ‘Still, if he wants you, I’ll go tonight.’

Christian stammered something, head down, looking at no one, and contemptuously Olive watched him, like a judge and a gaoler.

Bertrand stood with pained discretion, touching his tie.

If only they would all get out! Ignoring them, I went to the mirror, leaned for

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.