The Man Who Was Left Behind (17 page)
Read The Man Who Was Left Behind Online
Authors: Rachel Ingalls
Butterworth had held on to his wife, too, but too tightly.
And he had also managed to make love to her; whether before or after her death was something I didn’t want to know, though no doubt the hotel manager had known.
She stopped crying, and sighed. I smoothed her hair back and put my arm around her shoulder. Butterworth had held his wife by the neck and held her too tightly, for too long. But I held my wife close and carefully, by the waist and shoulders, and shut my eyes. And then the doctor’s pills began to work, and I floated and I floated, and I slept.
Rachel Ingalls grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has had various jobs, from theatre dresser and librarian to publisher’s reader. She is a confirmed radio and film addict and has lived in London since 1965. She is the author of several novels and collections of short stories.
This collection first published in 1974
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2013
All rights reserved
Collection © Rachel Ingalls, 1974
The Man Who Was Left Behind
© Rachel Ingalls, 1970
The right of Rachel Ingalls to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–29979–9
