Read The Night of Wenceslas for Free Online

August.’
    ‘I mean for good.’
    I sat up and stared at her. ‘Why, for God’s sake?’

    Her eyes, which had been closed, now opened, grey-green, and regarded me mournfully. ‘You know why, Nicolas.’
    This could only be an obscure reference to the Little Swine, it seemed to me, and I bent to kiss her to obliterate the thought. She twisted away, lifting her fingertips to my face.
    ‘All my family are in Ireland,’ she said mournfully. ‘I’ve got nobody here.’
    ‘How about me?’
    ‘How about you?’
    ‘You know how I feel about you, Maura.’
    ‘I know you want to go to bed with me.’
    ‘Damn it,’ I said with fright. It was the first time she had said anything like that. ‘There’s more to it than that, Maura.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I love you,’ I said, awkwardly. The scale-weighing, it seemed to me, was not going too scientifically.
    ‘I love you, too, Nicolas,’ she said. ‘But there doesn’t seem much chance of our ever being able to do much about it, does there? Oh, I can see,’ she said mournfully, beginning to enjoy it, ‘I can see it’s not going to be any use. You’ll be a lifelong poor relative. The Little Swine won’t do a thing unless you push him, and your uncle in Canada won’t either because you don’t show a spark of interest. I’ve tried hard to believe some miracle will happen to change you…’
    ‘Well, try a bit harder,’ I said, echoing Ratface, and suddenly invigorated by the recollection, took her head firmly in my hands. ‘Look, Maura, I’ve had more than enough of this conversation. The time has come to settle a few simple points, (a) My formative years are long past and nothing now is going to alter my character, (b) Changes of circumstance, of which there could be many, should not affect our relationship, viewed as a long-term proposition. If in your mind they do, well, you’re perfectly right – it’s no go. And now,’ I said, ‘let’s forget it.’
    She wriggled her head round fast before I could get down to her. ‘Nicolas, what’s happened to you?’
    ‘You’ve happened to me,’ I said. She returned my kiss withenthusiasm. Her eyes were lively and alert and sparkling when we drew apart.
    ‘If you knew how worried I’ve been,’ she said. ‘Is everything going to be all right now, Nicolas?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said reluctantly.
    ‘He agreed to your becoming a full partner?’
    My mental defences had shaken themselves wearily into life like a big tired bulldog. ‘Well, it’s difficult to explain.’
    ‘All right,’ she said, lightly. ‘I’ve got no right to know.’
    ‘Maura, you have. I’m just not able to tell you at the moment. Believe me, Maura,’ I said, with a desperate attempt at her own line of dramatics, ‘I’ve thought about this and thought about it, and I know you’ve got a right to be told, but you’ve just got to trust me.’
    ‘No right at all,’ she said, but only the words were cold. Her eyes were warm and curious. ‘When will you be able to tell me?’
    ‘Soon,’ I said, wondering how the hell I’d placed myself in this insane position. The idea had been merely to keep from her for the moment the fact that there was now no bar or impediment to marrying her. She now understood (a) that I could, and (b) that her prompting to approach the Little Swine had paid off. The fact that the latter was untrue was not only irrelevant. It was damned inconvenient. My firm intention had been to see the Little Swine for just one further and rewarding session. I would now have to create a detailed day-to-day fantasy for her.
    The prospect was so enervating that all thought of smooching swiftly dispersed. I lit a cigarette and lay down beside her. Our heads were together, but she did not say anything further. For a long time I could see her eyelashes from the corner of my eye, blinking rapidly and intelligently at the sky.
4
    The next three days passed deliriously. I had a short, perfect interview with the Little Swine and with