The Bachelors (25 page)

‘Listen,
Tim,’ she said. ‘I will take you across to Prunier’s. We can discuss everything
there. You
know
you like Prunier’s.’

‘Timothy!’
she said.

A very
young man came round the corner. ‘Oh! ‘he said at Marlene’s back.

‘Would
you mind going in there and telling my nephew, Tim Raymond, that he’s wanted
urgently? A matter of life and death. Hurry.’

The
young man went in as one accustomed to military training, leaving the door
open. Marlene stood in the doorway and watched while he politely looked round.

‘There’s
nobody here,’ said the young man.

The
aged member from the library approached the door, followed by his young
companion.

Marlene
was saying, ‘Nonsense. He is hiding from me. Have a good look.’

‘Who?’
said the aged member behind her.

‘Let
me
look,’ said Marlene, entering this tiled enclosure.

‘Who?’
said the old man.

He was
ushered away by his fellows.

Marlene
continued her simple but fruitless search. When she came out she caught sight
of the porter as he came up the stairs with the look of one who had been sent.

Marlene
tripped along the passage and into the library. The room appeared to be
unoccupied. A thin and feeble little cloud of cigarette smoke proceeded from
the join of the window curtains. Marlene observed the bulge where Tim had pulled
a chair behind the curtain to console his vigil, and made straight for it.

‘Tim,
you are wasting my time.’

Footsteps
approached outside and the door-handle was turned. Marlene got behind the
curtain with Tim just before the porter put his head round the door. As soon as
he had withdrawn Tim moved out to the far side of the big table.

‘It is
a matter of life and death,’ Marlene said.

‘I’ve
got to go to the lavatory,’ Tim said. This was genuine, and he departed.

Marlene
found a place of concealment at the end of the passage. Tim came out of the
lavatory and, looking to right and left, darted upstairs. Marlene followed, in
time to catch him as he attempted to close a door behind him. She pushed her
way in against him and confronted him in a bleak vacant bedroom. She locked the
door.

‘Now,
Tim,’ she said, ‘what’s all this fuss about?’

‘I don’t
want to give evidence in Seton’s case,’ he said. ‘It’s got nothing to do with
me, Marlene.’

‘It isn’t
a matter of what you want. It’s a question of what is necessary.’

‘No,’
said Tim, ‘really.’

‘What?’
she said.

‘Nothing
doing,’ Tim said.

‘You
are out of your mind,’ she said.

Tim
made a dash for the door, unlocked it, fled downstairs, grabbed his coat and
dashed into the street where he turned several corners and then caught a taxi.

Marlene
walked solemnly downstairs and demanded some scrap paper from the hall porter.

‘Mr.
Raymond has left, Madam.’

‘I wish
to leave a note.’

She
folded it in four when she had written it and wrote Tim’s name on the outside.
She gave it to the porter who, when she had gone, read the message: ‘I shall
see my solicitor tomorrow with a view to altering the legacy arrangements.
Marlene Cooper.’

Ewart Thornton sat with
his elbow resting on the arm of his wide chair, and in his hand the telephone
receiver.

‘There
is a meeting to-night. Of course I shall not be present. Freda my dear, there
is something you should know about the Wider Infinity. There is a group within
the Group. A secret group within the Group. Now you didn’t know that, Freda
dear, did you? Doesn’t it surprise you?’

Freda
Flower sat in her chair by the telephone, looking up at a cobweb in the corner
of the ceiling which she dared not sweep away for fear of bad luck, and spoke
into the telephone.

‘You
amaze me, Ewart,’ she said.

‘I thought
that would surprise you,’ he said. ‘My dear, this secret group within the Group
is called the Interior Spiral.’

‘That’s
a make of mattress, isn’t it?’ she said.

‘It may
be, it may be. I say, my dear Freda, you are taking this seriously, aren’t you?’

‘I
think it’s a very serious matter indeed, Ewart. After all, it was my money that
was—”

‘Yes,
quite. Well, as I was saying, there is this secret group, and I admit I was a
member. There was some good in it, Freda, we did a lot of good. But an evil
spirit got abroad amongst us. I have resigned. There is a conspiracy amongst
them to support Patrick Seton at the trial. Of course, this is illegal and they
won’t have a leg to stand on, but—’

‘Oh,
Ewart, oh, Ewart. I do wish I had never gone to the police about that money.
They will make me say more things against Patrick, and with him standing there
in the dock, with his eyes on me. I don’t know how I managed the other day in
the Magistrate’s Court. I came home to bed, and___’

‘You
only have to speak the truth, Freda. It is the truth, isn’t it? You did give
him that money to buy bonds?’

‘Oh
yes, but—”

‘And he
used it for his own purposes?’

‘Yes,
but—”

‘And
forged a letter to cover himself?’

‘Yes,
it’s true, but… Oh, Ewart, I somehow knew all the time he was deceiving me
and I let it go. It makes—’

‘You
knew?’

‘Well,
I knew and I didn’t know. I wouldn’t admit it to myself. And now to get up in
the criminal court with his eyes on me again and stick to the facts as Mr.
Fergusson says, it will be such a sort of let-down, a betrayal, and poor little
Patrick, he’s so thin.’

‘Tell
me, Freda dear — I’m a man of the world —was there any — were there any
relations
between you and Patrick Seton? In confidence, my dear?’

‘Well,
Ewart, I don’t want to talk about it, naturally I’ve got my pride. But he got
round me, you know, Ewart, and I let myself go. He—”

‘My
dear, if this is mentioned in court, deny it. Simply flatly deny it. It is
irrelevant to the case. I doubt very much if Patrick would bring it up in court
—it would go against him, if anything. You were foolish, Freda my dear.’

‘I know
I’m a foolish woman. It’s not just the disgrace of it coming up that’s worrying
me. But it was terrible the other day to stand up in front of Patrick and
denounce him to the magistrate after being together like that. He looked at me.
It—’

‘That’s
just his trick, my dear. Don’t you see? He counts on women being weak. He—”

‘Oh, I
do believe he meant everything in his heart a the time when we were together,
really. And he can see through everything, Ewart. You don’t know how psychic he
is. He’s in touch with my poor husband. He’s in touch with the Beyond. He—’

‘Are
you afraid of him?’ Ewart said.

‘Yes.’

‘What
are you afraid of?’

‘His
looking at me. He used to recite “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”, it
was a deepening experience, Ewart.’

‘You
must definitely speak to Father Socket, Freda. If you feel an evil eye upon
you, Father Socket will exorcise it for you—’

‘Father
Socket has gone away. Dr. Garland can’t find him anywhere. He isn’t at Ramsgate
and he’s left the flat. Dr. Garland’s upset. Dr. Garland’s sent those girls
away — and between you and me, good riddance. You don’t tell me they were
waitresses. No fear.’

‘There
must have been a break between Socket and Mike Garland,’ Ewart said. ‘
My
dear.
Tell me more.’

‘Oh,
definitely a break. I don’t know what about.’

‘Have
you seen Mike Garland recently?’

‘No.
There’s rent owing for the girls.’

‘Freda
my dear, you simply must keep clear of these cranks.’

‘Ewart,
I feel I can count on you. If only I didn’t have to go to court and stand up.
The case might go on for a whole day or more. Will you be at the trial?’

‘Oh no.
Exams.’

‘I
should like to see you. Won’t you come over?’

‘Sorry.
Loads of homework.’ The comfort went out of his face at the notion of his
telephone-relationship getting out of hand.

‘Suppose
Patrick gets off?’ she said.

‘He won’t
get off if you stick to the facts.’

‘But
this Interior Spiral. They might get up and say anything. Suppose Patrick gets
off? — He’ll do me damage, Ewart, and I’ll only have myself to blame.’

‘The
Interior Spiral, as I was about to tell you, Freda my dear, is dwindling fast.
Marlene will find herself with very few friends when it comes to a court case.’

‘Suppose
Patrick
doesn’t
get off? — He’ll do me damage.’

Ewart
Thornton suddenly desired to ring off. The act of gossiping with her over the
telephone was a need, but the need was fulfilled in the act. He did not like it
when the conversation seemed to be getting somewhere. ‘Patrick will do me harm.’
She upset him by going on like this. What if Patrick did her harm? Ewart felt
uneasy about Patrick. He might well do harm. It was best to keep out of Patrick’s
reach. Patrick was definitely in touch with things out there in the Unseen.

‘Patrick,’
said Freda, ‘has the
power
to do—’

‘Freda
my dear, I must go. Mounds of homework.’

He
sulked for a moment after he had put down the receiver, then he rose fatly, and
presently stood up tall so that his hips lost their broadness. He tidied his
room for the night. He put this away and that in its place, and sighed for his
superannuation.

Marlene sat in her
indignation, awaiting the meeting of the Interior Spiral. Everyone was late. It
was a quarter to nine and the meeting had been called for half-past eight. The
six coffee cups and the plate of biscuits stood on the tray like messages of
regret for inability to attend. Ewart Thornton had said he would not come.
Still, one had hoped… Tim, to whom had been offered this unique opportunity
of becoming acquainted with the Interior Spiral, was
out.
Out —she had
seen her solicitor that morning and Tim was out of her Will. Five others had
promised, were expected, might still come, would surely… Patrick himself, why
was he late? The two retired spinsters, the Cottons from round the corner,
where were they? Disloyally attending those life classes they had recently
taken up, Marlene had no doubt. She had told them of the urgency. Billy Raines,
the photographer? Osbert Jacob? Jacynthe — The door bell rang.

It was
Patrick.

‘I’m sorry
to be late,’ he uttered in his half-voice, ‘but Alice, I’ve had trouble with
Alice. Keeps talking of suicide… one day… suicide. It’s sure to happen.’

‘That
girl should be in a home,’ Marlene said. ‘You are too good to her, Patrick. She
is only after what she can get. You are too good.’

She
placed her arm round his shoulders and he rested his head upon her bosom of
bones.

‘Well,’
she said, ‘take your coat off, Patrick. It is nine o’clock and no-one has come.
I fear we are deserted, but we are not a sinking ship. Not yet. I told everyone
of the urgency, and what was to be discussed. After all I have done for the
Infinity. My own nephew, my own flesh and blood, has—” The door bell rang.

At
first she thought it was the Rector of Dees coming up the stairs. She had not
expected the Rector of Dees, since he was getting on in years and the trains
were so irregular. But she had written to him. And now he had come. ‘In my hour
of need,’ she called down the stairs. ‘Dear Rector.’

He
looked up from his wide-brimmed hat. It was not the Rector of Dees, it was
Father Socket of the enemy faction, protector of Dr. Garland so-called.

‘Well,’
said Marlene, blocking the doorway.

Father
Socket removed his hat and looked humble. ‘May I come and break bread with you?’
he said.

‘Come
this way,’ Marlene said.

She
took him into her sitting room where Patrick stood by the fire. Father Socket
held out his hand to Patrick.

‘I have
come to make my peace,’ he said.

Patrick
placed his effortless hand in the strong white-hairy one of Father Socket.
White hairs bristled on Father Socket’s face. He had not shaved.

‘Dear
lady,’ he said to Marlene. ‘I have been through the deep waters.’

‘Did
you say you were hungry?’ said she, perceiving he had come as an ally.

‘It was
a manner of speaking,’ he said. ‘I have come to ask you to accept what
assistance I can offer in your courageous efforts to—”

‘You
want to witness for Patrick at the trial?’

‘I do.
I have been greatly deceived in my clairvoyant protégé, Dr. Garland. The
serpent’s—”

‘He is
no clairvoyant,’ said Marlene, ‘and he is no doctor.’