The Lake of Darkness by Ruth Rendell

Author:Ruth Rendell [Rendell, Ruth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-307-55729-2
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 1980-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

XII

The drive took much longer than ten minutes because of the dense fog. The sky itself, smoky, choking, gloomy white, seemed to have fallen through the dark on to the upper reaches of Highgate. Each car was guided by the tail lights of the one in front, lights that looked as if their feeble glow came through cloudy water.

Lindsay sat on Francesca’s knee, helping herself to chocolates out of the box Martin had brought. She liked most of the flavours but not violet cream or liqueur cherry, and when she had taken a bite out of these she pushed the remains into Francesca’s mouth. Silver paper went all over the floor of Martin’s nice clean car.

Francesca could see Martin was offended at this cavalier treatment of his present, but she didn’t care about that. He didn’t like Lindsay and he showed it, and to Francesca this was so monstrous that whenever she felt like giving the whole business up and just getting out or telling the truth, she thought of how he looked at and spoke to Lindsay and she hardened her heart and went on. He was looking at her like that now while they were stopped at a red traffic light. It was the kind of look a polite host gives to a guest’s uninvited dog.

“You see, Martin, she’d, soon make a mess of your lovely tidy flat.”

“Maybe, but things would be different if we had a house. We could have a big kitchen and a playroom; we’d, have a garden. Look, I can see that’s valid, what you said about it’s not being right to let your child sleep on a couch in the living room. So suppose I put the flat on the market tomorrow and start to look for a house for the three of us and you stay with Russell just until the house is ready to move into. How does that sound?”

“I don’t know, Martin.”

“Well, darling, will you think about it? Will you, please, because I ask you and I want it so much? You see, I don’t know what else to suggest. You do want to come and live with me, don’t you?”

It was so cold and foggy and she had a long awkward journey ahead of her. She hadn’t the nerve to say no. She touched his arm and smiled.

“Well, then. You won’t live with me at the flat and you won’t come and stay there with me till we can get a house, so I’m asking you to think about this idea. Will you think about it, darling?”

“I really don’t think I’ll ever …” Francesca started to say when Lindsay clamped a chocolate-smeary hand over her mouth. She didn’t have to finish because Martin was parking the car. They had arrived.

She put Lindsay out on to the pavement and got out herself. It was very cold and wet out there, rain penetrating the fog in large icy drops. Martin wanted her to kiss him so she put her head back in through the window and held up to him red lips that a raindrop had already splashed.

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