lodger and regarded him as an improvement on the last man, an itinerant seller of leather bags and shoe laces, who had left a few weeks ago, without paying his rent but taking with him her youngest daughter. It was not yet clear which of them would ultimately be the loser on this transaction. To please her present tenant she put an occasional duster round the room and usually made the bed; she had plenty of time in which to work, as he was out a good deal. He had not told her what he worked at, and, tactfully, she had not asked.
The man sat down at a small table by the window and arranged various things on the table before him. He had a yellow packet of photographs, a newspaper cutting, and a carefully tied-up bundle of documents. He opened the packet of photographs and carefully set out a line of photographs almost as if starting a game of Patience. Four cards in a line and one below. They were pictures of women.
He looked at them in silence, then stuffed them back into the packet, which was already greasy and much thumbed, as were the pictures themselves. He put all the things on the table back into the inside pocket of his blue raincoat.
There was a pause while he sat on the bed and drank the bottle of milk to the bottom. Then he got up, opened the drawers of the old chest of drawers and took out a few layers of shirts and underclothings. He packed this into a small suitcase. He looked into the wardrobe, but it was empty. He was wearing his one suit.
He looked round the room, but it was now quite bare of any sign of his presence except for a book by his bed, and this he did not notice.
He went downstairs and knocked on his landlady’s door. She opened it at once. She was not pleased to see the suitcase or to hear that her visitor was leaving. She was a large lazy woman of about forty; the only swift thing about her was her temper, as each of her three successive husbands had found in turn. She emerged with a cigarette in her lips and her expensive and bad-tempered Siamese cat clinging to her shoulders. They were both slightly cross-eyed.
“Well, you’d better come in and talk it over,” she said, holding the door open. “I can’t say I’m pleased about this, as you led me to believe you’d be a permanent. I’ve let slip several good offers, one very nice undergrad” (this was a complete lie, no undergraduate would step into her house) “and one from a very well-to-do lady as would have done for herself. You’ve let me down. Well, come on in.”
Although the house was dreary enough, the landlady had created a certain comfort in her own room. Everything was placed just where it could contribute most to its owner’s comfort. The round table, perpetually covered in a white and blue check tablecloth was so placed that it caught both the warmth from the fire and a good view from the window. On the table were a newspaper, a radio, and a box of cigarettes. By the fire was a teapot and another cat.
“I’ve kept the cats out of your way, as you said you hated them. I thought you liked it here,” she said in a hurt voice.
“I’m afraid I have to leave, though,” repeated her visitor, his mouth setting in firmer lines than his usual mild expression had led her to expect. She saw this, and abandoned her hopes of getting a month’s rent from him. “It’s unfair, though,” she said, with a genuine sense of grievance. “You’ll have to pay up for this week,” and she held out a hand.
As he got out the money to pay her, his envelope of photographs fell to the floor. One picture slid out.
“Why, you’ve got a picture of Dr. Manning,” she said in surprise.
“You know her?” Her lodger sounded not too pleased.
“Not half! Used to work there. As a lady help, you know. Just to oblige. But I didn’t stick it. Couldn’t do with her. Always following me about to see if I worked properly. Looked as frail as a feather, she did, but her energy! Had me beat. All her friends used to say, ‘Oh Marion, I don’t know how you do all you do, with your health, and your headaches. You ought to rest more, dear.’ Tough as an old boot she is really. See me
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
