Part 50 (2/2)
”That was more or less the idea.”
”It's a shame that you had all the trouble. You can get messenger-boys to go anywhere and do anything nowadays. Derek ought to have thought of that.”
Freddie looked at her doubtfully.
”You're spoofing, aren't you? I mean to say, you wouldn't have liked that!”
”I shouldn't have disliked it any more than his sending you.”
”Oh, but I wanted to pop over. Keen to see America and so forth.”
Jill looked past him at the gloomy stage. Her face was set, and her eyes sombre.
”Can't you understand, Freddie? You've known me a long time. I should have thought that you would have found out by now that I have a certain amount of pride. If Derek wanted me back, there was only one thing for him to do--come over and find me himself.”
”Rummy! That's what Mason said, when I told him. You two don't realize how dashed busy Derek is these days.”
”Busy!”
Something in her face seemed to tell Freddie that he was not saying the right thing, but he stumbled on.
”You've no notion how busy he is. I mean to say, elections coming on and so forth. He daren't stir from the metrop.”
”Of course I couldn't expect him to do anything that might interfere with his career, could I?”
”Absolutely not. I knew you would see it!” said Freddie, charmed at her reasonableness. All rot, what you read about women being unreasonable. ”Then I take it it's all right, eh?”
”All right?”
”I mean you will toddle home with me at the earliest opp. and make poor old Derek happy?”
Jill laughed discordantly.
”Poor old Derek!” she echoed. ”He has been badly treated, hasn't he?”
”Well, I wouldn't say that,” said Freddie doubtfully. ”You see, coming down to it, the thing was more or less his fault, what?”
”More or less!”
”I mean to say....”
”More or less!”
Freddie glanced at her anxiously. He was not at all sure now that he liked the way she was looking or the tone in which she spoke. He was not a keenly observant young man, but there did begin at this point to seep through to his brain-centres a suspicion that all was not well.
”Let me pull myself together!” said Freddie warily to his immortal soul. ”I believe I'm getting the raspberry!” And there was silence for a s.p.a.ce.
The complexity of life began to weigh upon Freddie. Life was like one of those shots at squash which seem so simple till you go to knock the cover off the ball, when the ball sort of edges away from you and you miss it. Life, Freddie began to perceive, was apt to have a nasty back-spin on it. He had never had any doubt when he had started, that the only difficult part of this expedition to America would be the finding of Jill. Once found, he had presumed that she would be delighted to hear his good news and would joyfully accompany him home on the next boat. It appeared now, however, that he had been too sanguine. Optimist as he was, he had to admit that, as far as could be ascertained with the naked eye, the jolly old binge might be said to have sprung a leak.
He proceeded to approach the matter from another angle.
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