The Aerodrome: A Love Story by Rex Warner Read Free Book Online

dog leashes of plaited reeds. At the top of the meadow towards which this main avenue led were the ring and stands for the riding and jumping competitions which were now due to begin; and near here, too, were the long tents covered in with hessian canvas where bulls, sheep, and goats awaited the judges. At the suggestion of the Squire's sister, we approached one of these tents, for she was anxious to see her brother's prize bull, Slazenger, which was being shown once again this year. We went in single file through the canvas curtain and along the narrow passage-way past the stalls where the great animals were tethered. There was a hot smell of straw, dung, and animal flesh, and we patted the moist flanks of the recumbent beasts as we went along the tent. The Squire's sister knew the names and the owners of many of the animals which were on show, and she was, I remember, pointing out to me a particularly fine creature, beige-coloured, lying on his massive side and breathing heavily into the straw, when we heard an exclamation from in front of us, and turning in the direction from which the sound came, saw the Flight-Lieutenant coming towards us with outstretched hand. He was dressed in uniform and was smiling broadly as he approached us. On his handsome face was no sign of embarrassment, indeed this feeling was confined to our own party, who had perhaps secretly determined to take no notice of him, should they meet him again. But in the confined space in which we found ourselves it was impossible to pretend not to see a person who was blocking the whole passageway and who was also, it seemed, resolved to speak first. And any overt discourtesy might well have led to an altercation. So the ladies smiled in a distant manner, and the Rector, though he showed no pleasure at the sight of the young man, nevertheless appeared willing to listen to what he had to say. The Flight-Lieutenant greeted us breezily. "I was hoping I'd run up against you folks," he said, "because I'm afraid I rather broke up the party last night." He paused and looked inquiringly from face to face. "Oh yes, I did," he continued, although no one had shown any disposition to contradict him. "It was rather a bad show, in a way." The Rector cleared his throat as though he were about to speak, but before he could begin the Flight-Lieutenant stepped forward, forcing the Squire's sister almost against the nose of the bull which she had previously been inspecting, and gripped him by the arm. "To tell the truth, Padre," he said, "I was a bit tight." The Rector did not appear much mollified, so he continued: "Oh come on, sir, you know what that's like, I bet. You were young once I dare say." He smiled confidently while the Squire's sister remarked: "Excuse me, but you are pushing me against the bull." "Oh am I?" said the Flight-Lieutenant. "Not really? Oh, I say!" And he stepped back, surveying us quizzically as though he had just acted in some particularly generous manner towards us all. "Well, now that that's settled..." he began, but the Rector interrupted him by saying: "Some day I should like to have a word with you." "Yes," said the Squire's sister firmly, as though the same idea had occurred to her independently as a good one; and the Flight-Lieutenant replied: "Of course. Any time. I should be delighted. But now you must come and see this walloping great bull." He seized the hand of the Rector's wife and dragged her after him along the tent, while the Rector and the Squire's sister followed as though perforce, and I came behind them. We halted at the end of the tent where the Flight-Lieutenant stood gazing at Slazenger, the Squire's prize bull, who was standing up with his back to us, tossing his huge head from side to side, for he seemed restive and was tethered by a greater length of rope than most of the other animals in the tent. I remember how the muscles rippled over his black shoulders and flowed along his neck when he turned to us his dignified and stupid