i 51ddca29df3edad1 by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

door, and as he opened it he reman sea casually, " I'm oft to York this afternoon; I suppose Esther told you.
    "
    "Yes, she did say something about it."
    "It's a blooming nuisance. This fellow--he was my Colonel, I hadn't seen for years until we met at a reunion a little while ago--he's in a bad way, dicky heart, lives on his own ... well he's got a housekeeper, sort of. Anyway, he phoned me yesterday begging me to come up. And what can you do at Christmas, somebody lonely eh?" They were passing Miss Bateman's desk and he turned his head towards her now and asked,
    "Oh, by the way did you get me the reservation?" And when she answered, "Yes, it's here," he turned to Harry again and said,
    "There'll be thousands travelling today, and if this keeps on I can see us being stranded in some siding over the holiday." He laughed his other laugh, a deep belly laugh, then added, "But I must look in on the jollification for a little while, so see yolt again at three then."
    "It's beginning at two-thirty today." They both looked at Miss Bateman, and she added, "I'm having word sent round, so that everyone can get away earlier."
    "Half-past two it is then." Dave Rippon nodded at Harry and Harry returned the nod, then went out and down the passage and to the lift and when he was inside he leant his head against the wooden partition.
    He had never felt so small and inconsequential in his life before.
    From the beginning to the end of the interview his father-in-law had treated him like a cross between a young clerk and a man depending on his livelihood from the perks of his wife's father.
    When he opened his office door a girl was standing at the corner of his desk. He said, "Oh, hello," and she said, "I'm Betty Ray. Miss Bateman sent me in."
    "Oh yes. Sit down, Miss Ray."
    Seated behind the desk; he picked up some letters from the in-tray, saying, "There's only about half-a-dozen, they won't take long." He smiled at her now and said, "Nobody wants to work this morning." And she smiled back at him and replied, "Oh, I don't mind. I'd rather work, it passes the time away."
    "Yes," he inclined his head towards her, "There's something in that.
    Now then, this is to Farrow, Barrett and Soames. "
    As ne dictated me icllcjl nc luuis-cu cu'll1,1 cinu i. injm. iiL, kjni, o the one that sits farthest away from the window. The girls in the pool were mostly faces to him; they came in before he did in the morning and they went before he left at night. Sometimes he passed them on the stairs at lunch time but he had never managed to put a face to a body until now. Miss Ray looked a vivacious girl, medium height, black hair with a fine pair of eyes. Brown or black? He waited until she looked up again. Brown.
    When she had finished typing the letters and she was about to go, he said, "If it wasn't for the party you could go home now I suppose," and she answered pertly, "But what would I do there .,. Well I mean, I've got nothing to do at home; I'd rather stay for the party and risk being snowed in."
    "You would?"
    She nodded at him, "Yes," and they both laughed, he freely.
    "How long have you been here?" he asked.
    "Just over two months."
    "Do you like it ?" } She shrugged her shoulders.
    "It's a job."
    Yes, they were all jobs, just jobs. He looked at her now as a whole.
    She was what they would call petite. She sounded lively, different from poor old Ada. But Ada was twice her age. He guessed this girl to be twenty. When he said, "Thanks, Miss Ray," she said, in a manner which would surely have caused Miss Bateman's back hair to stand on end
    "Any time, any time, Mr. Blenheim," and went out.
    He found himself still smiling as he straightened the papers on his desk. For the moment he had forgotten about Halliday, Lovell's and his father-in-law.
    THREE
    The basement storeroom was crowded with staff, ranging from the second director to the tea boy. A transistor was blaring forth dance music, but no one would have thought of dancing; they didn't dance at the