Nick Ashton-Jones is a farmer, an environmentalist, a writer who cannot help himself, a psycho geographer and historian.

He has spent most of his working life in the tropics: in the South acific and in Southeast Asia, !ut mostly in Nigeria which is his second home, if not his first. Nick was !orn in Sheffield, has a son who is Swiss, and is !ased in "er!y. He thinks the !est !it of #ritain is the $sle of Arran, and he shares his life with his partner, "avid, an artist and illustrator.

"edicated to Susi Arnott, with love.

Nick Ashton-Jones

BOOKS PEOPLE DISCARD

%opyright Nick Ashton-Jones &he right of Nick Ashton-Jones to !e identified as author of this work has !een asserted !y him in accordance with section '' and '( of the %opyright, "esigns and atents Act )*((. All rights reserved. No part of this pu!lication may !e reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or !y any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the pu!lishers. Any person who commits any unauthori+ed act in relation to this pu!lication may !e lia!le to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A %$ catalogue record for this title is availa!le from the #ritish ,i!rary. $S#N *'( )(-*./ -0. ' www.austinmacauley.com 1irst u!lished 203)-4 Austin 5acauley u!lishers ,td. 06 %anada S7uare %anary 8harf ,ondon 9)- 6,#

rinted and !ound in :reat #ritain

PART ONE

But It is not what It see

;<ou can take those,= she shouted, as if the idea had only >ust occurred to her. ;$ was going to give them to the clu!.= She had made up the !o? especially for him, selecting the !ooks she wanted him to think she read. She had read them, a lot of them, some of them, most were "avid@s. Hers were the historical novels, the Hollywood memoirs, the things she had !ought at airports and from the newsagents in town which didn@t know any !etter. $@m not ashamed of what $ read. <ou have to read something. "avid always seemed to have a solid nineteenth-century novel with him: a enguin %lassic of some sort. $ read what was going, in those days. &he Somerset 5augham short stories had !een going in Hong Aong, where they were stuck for si? hours waiting for the connection to ort 5arkham. She read through the lot, almost without a !reak, annoyed when "avid pushed the !ook up into her face to see what was keeping her so uninterested in him. Bh, those things, he said. She ignored him. &he idea was that $@d read it again on the way !ack to 9ngland. Somerset 5augham keeps me sane. She had said it at the clu! as a thing she had wanted to say. #ut somehow it got into the !o? for Harry instead of into my travelling !ag. $ mustn@t forget it. She had forgotten it, so it was the first thing Harry saw as he carried the !o? away. Bh, those things, he thought, shouting over his shoulder. ;<ou can keep these,= and he dropped the !ook onto the lawn. $t was supposed to !e a >oke !ut it lay discarded, inoffensively enough, open at a page stayed !y a few drops of rain, a passing cloud. %lara picked it up later. She read a few sentences !ut decided she would take it to the man who sold second-hand !ooks outside the supermarket, laying them out flat

on a piece of plastic: This is My Testament, O Level Geography, The Picture of Dorian Gray. He might give her something for it.
rynne was the manager of the ru!!er estate up the river and now and then they spent the night with him. Sometimes when he wanted a change he came down to dinner and slept at the "B@s !ungalow. &hey !oth liked him. He was a man of five-and-thirty, with a red face, with deep furrows in it, and very !lack hair. He was 7uite uneducated, !ut cheerful and easy, and !eing the only 9nglishman within two days@ >ourney they could not !ut !e friendly with him. He had !een a little shy at first.

The Door of Opportunity, !y 8 Somerset 5augham. Harry had come to say good!ye. She knew he would, so when she saw him am!ling up the garden path in his clumsy way, !rushing the hi!iscus hedge, she rushed into the !edroom, shouting to him, standing, she imagined, awkward, on the veranda. ;8ait a minute, Harry, $@ll !e with you,= pretending she was !usy. ;Sit down "arling,= as she wiped a little of the sweat and dust from her face. She called to %lara, ; lease give 5r Harry his coffee.= She said it in a way that suggested %lara was a darling too !ecause it was how she treated the house staff who adored her, despite her making them use the !ack door. &hey had their own lavatory as well: a pit latrine hidden in the shru!!ery !ehind the kitchen. She decided she would !e young, happy and adora!le. A !it silly, ready to give him the greatest and most precious thing she had to give: a little of her time. &here he would !e, large and gawky in the rattan armchair which was too small for his sprawling lim!s. She would rush at him, !reathless, catching him off guard so he@d stammer a little in that sweet way he had and then !e speechless for a moment, forcing him to look at her, flushed and a !it untidy, so he would remem!er her that way, forever. &he memory would !righten the routine of his days for the rest of his life. He would realise he was not really good enough for her !ut that knowing her, knowing them !oth, had made him !etter all the same and he would !e grateful. She would sit opposite him, leaning forward towards him, her hands on her knees so that he might, if he wanted, take them in his

long, !rown, !ony hands, with the golden hairs on the !ack. $f he did she would >ust look into his eyes for three or four seconds, s7uee+e a little and say. ;"avid C = So that it was clear she was a loyal wife. &hey would !oth let go at this point and she would talk sensi!ly !ut with a tiny catch in her voice. She would tell him that he was one of the family and wouldn@t it !e lovely for him to !e godfather to their first child, if :od C etc., etc., etc. Bnly that was the pro!lem, :od had done whatever it was He had wanted to do and it was all a !it em!arrassing. #etter for Harry not to know at all. 8hat would he think of herD 8hat would he think of 8aneiD She could deal with "avid. She had dealt with him already !ut Harry might have laughed. ;Are these !ooks for meD= He called from the veranda. ;<es.= ;&hanks.= She went out !ut he had gone. ;<ou@re welcome,= she said to the thin air.

Da"i# an# Sa$$% Lea"e En&$an#

9ver since Sally could remem!er, they had taken in student lodgers. A father in the household, there had never !een. Just 5ummy and herself. And the ever-changing cast of students. &he two women were more like sisters really, sharing the !ack !edroom with the view over the little garden, the recreation ground, the poplar trees and the endless fens !eyond. Bften, as a child, Sally had stared at that view, kneeling on her !ed, el!ows on the window sill, face pressed against the glass. &he 1ens were the world, stretching out to the sky and !eyond. Sometimes, she could not resist the idea of a shadow passing over, like a large, dark, swooping !ird from which she would want to duck. She would cover her head with her arms as if to protect herself while knowing it did not e?ist and wanting to look at it at the same time. She was more fascinated than afraid. &he !ig front !edroom with the !ay window was taken !y two students. Another occupied the little room a!ove the front door. &he three of them shared the front living room where they were served a hearty 9nglish !reakfast and a frugal !ut wellprepared dinner at half past seven sharp. 5en were supposed to !e out during the day, otherwise tolerated only if they were very 7uiet. &he house was run as a 7uiet house. &here was no shortage of takers for the rooms in the university town. Sally@s mother could afford to !e selective. She was. Euiet, studious types were preferred. Nice !oys. "efinitely not girls. :irls would forever want to do !its of washing and would even want to invade the kitchen. $t had !een tried: it had failed. &he two girls in 7uestion F !rainy types from the North F wanted to !e intimate and chummy with the mother and daughter. &hey had wanted to recruit them into the world of

women freed from men. 8orse, they had wanted to know the mother and the daughterG they had asked 7uestions. &hey went. Anyway, Sally and her mother liked men. $t was men against whom they defined themselves. $t was only men whom they could serve day after day !ecause in e?change they were treated as ladies. Sally@s mother demanded a sort of medieval chivalry from the men who were her lodgers. &hey gave it willingly !ecause in return she treated them like the sort of men to whom women seem to defer. And, she provided very comforta!le lodgings. She !ecame well known for it. 5rs :rant is a lady, you are lucky to have rooms there. Sally@s mother was the type of woman who could fill the house >ust !y having a headache, or, as easily, disappear into a corner. $n those days she was still young and, like her daughter, attractive in a slightly dishevelled way that hid the smudged features and eyes that were often focused elsewhere. She could give the impression of !eing intensely interested in you while her mind was actually miles away. $t was 7uite clever. She had a neat and active figure that distracted some men. &he general impression of the house was that it was run in an anarchic manner !y a gentlewoman who, !y force of unhappy circumstance, had fallen on hard times. Sally@s mother would hint at F and there were things around that suggested F an unfortunate young widow forced out of her country home !y ruinous death duties and the de!ts of the dashing, much-loved !ut irresponsi!ly spend-thrift deceased partner. No 7uestions were to !e askedG it was too painful !ut life must go onG one must remain cheerful. After all, other people were in worse positions and this was rather a lark. Nonetheless, despite the apparent anarchy and slightly aristocratic indifference of the matriarch, the house was decorated tastefully in pastel colours to set off chint+ and nineteenth-century watercolours. Hases of flowers and Iintelligent@ !ooks lay around. Sheets were changed, rooms cleaned and windows polished to rain!ow !rilliance regularly. &he !athroom was never less than spotless and the food never less than well cooked and predicta!ly 9nglish. I#etter than my mother@s, 5rs :rant@.

I&hank you, 5r 8hoever-you-are, and so it ought to !e unless your mother is the Eueen of 9ngland@. All this, it was given to !elieve, was the natural result of *33 years of good !reeding. $n fact, the house was run along the lines of a good 8est 9nd theatre. &he front room, reminiscent of an 9nglish country house drawing room, might well have !een the setting of one of Somerset 5augham@s or NoJl %oward@s plays. $t was. &he purposefully neglected !ack garden, with its apple trees, a corner of the %herry Brchard, !efore it was cut down. &he tiny front garden was packed with roses of which the Eueen 5other would have !een proud, and the sit-up-and-!eg 1ord opular, straight out ofC an 9aling comedy. Sally never 7uestioned the setup. Not !orn to it e?actly !ut too young to comprehensively remem!er the move from the smelly room a!ove the !utcher@s shop in North ,ondon. $t was her life, she en>oyed it and she fell in with her mother !ecause she was happy. She was as much a !orn actress after all. She took what life !rought and made the !est of it. She liked the view of the fens !ut she did not want to go there. Not yet, at any rate, and there was always the fascinating idea of the dark swooping !ird. 9arly on, when 5rs :rant was still casting around for the right plot, there had !een a non-student lodger who was respectfully known !y the little girl Sally as 5r rynne. He was a large, silent, !lack-haired and healthy outdoor man who managed a market garden near!y. He was younger than 5rs :rant !ut he seemed old to Sally who, as a nine or ten year old, would sit on the kitchen floor F cool, mottled-!lue linoleum F in order to watch 5r rynne put on his !oots in the morning and take them off in the evening. She did not know it was rude to stare: she was fascinated !y the spectacle of his large hairy hands working his large woolly socked feet. &he naturally ruddy nature of 5r rynne@s face would !urn. He was a shy, goodnatured man so he said nothing. Sally was drawn to himG her mother noticed. 5r rynne went, the rudeness of staring was e?plained, the economic necessity of providing nice accommodation for nice,

well-spoken people F unlike 5r rynne who spoke with a !road 1enland accent F was impressed upon the young Sally, and the household !ecame more the 9nglish upper-ish middle-class setting that we know. 5rs :rant was good with Sally: she was not the imposing mother !ut much rather the conniving sister. Ks two against the world and all that. $t was a good idea, it worked and Sally fell in with it. Nonetheless, the !ird swooped from time to time. $t swooped a!out the time Sally !egan to realise she could !e attractive to men. &his was when a !eautiful dark-skinned $ndian was in residence for a couple of terms. Sally regretted his departure !ut then "avid ryce-8illiams appeared, a!out the time Sally left school and was wondering what to do with two IA@ levels. &he idea of an independent e?istence of some sort did not cross her mind. "avid !elieved 5rs :rant@s setup as he would have !elieved the theatre. Not !ecause he was completely taken in !ut !ecause he saw it as the setting he wanted for his life. &he difference was, he wanted it for real and he knew he was clever enough to get it. He was a !it !etter off than the usual student. 9nough to take the whole front !edroom for himself, which he tactfully and su!tly remoulded to give the impression of a gentleman@s study. He wore a smoking >acket in the evening and he occasionally smoked a cigar in the garden after dinner. $t ought to have seemed pretentious in one so young !ut he carried it off well !ecause he !elieved in it. He had a forceful nature which impressed the two women. "avid ryce-8illiams was a handsome, fair young man, s7uare and well !uilt, with a voice that !arked commands even when it used the conventionally polite terms. I#e so kind as to do this or that for me@. I&hank you ever so much@, stressing the ever as if he would never forget you or the deed all his life. He was the type that played rug!y in the winter and tennis in the summer. Not !ecause he liked it much !ut !ecause it kept him fit. He liked the male camaraderieG the opportunity to push and shove with menG to drink with them in the !arG to say silly things and look them in the eye. "avid compared well with the other lodger, the one who had the little room. A doctor@s son and a medical student, he was

studious and shy, su!>ect to long hair, spots and no idea how to dress. Nonetheless, he had good manners and was no trou!le, his father paying a term@s rent in advance directly into 5rs :rant@s account. He would sit at the dining ta!le in awe of "avid. He would clear the ta!le in the evenings while "avid wandered into the garden for a cigar. He did "avid@s shopping for him when he did his own. ,ike the two women, he fell for "avid@s healthy good looks, and as a result found "avid@s commanding nature e7ually attractive. His !rief part in the play was to make "avid look good. He@d have got good reviews. LMLMLM 8hat surprised Sally as she set a!out her part of !eing "avid@s wife, was that she felt no regret upon leaving the house in which she had spent the past fifteen years or so. As they drove down to ,ondon she tried to think of her mother. She could not even picture her face. She did remem!er that at the wedding her mother had worn a nice light, waisted coat and matching yellow tur!an-like sort of hat. She had looked a !it like Anna Neagle: well maintained !ut no dou!t a!out her age. ;As soon as you@ve settled, "arling, $@ll come down. 8e can meet for lunch and do some shopping. Such funN= ;<es 5ummy=. She hadn@t and they didn@t. $n the end, neither cared a >ot a!out the other. $t was a relief. "avid and Sally had !arely got into the tiny flat in the 9arls %ourt end of South Aensington !efore "avid@s company sent him out to New Sudan in the South acific. $t was a large trading and plantation company. Not what it had !een !efore the war, !ut illustrious all the same and "avid was proud to have got a >o! with it. He worked in the 9states "epartment, his degree in Briental History and ,anguages deemed appropriate for some reason. He 7uickly grasped that his >o! was purely administrative: something to !e done, organised, and then passed on to someone else. A local man could do the >o! more cheaply, he had e?plained to one of the ,ondon directors who

was making a tour of inspection. 8hat had eluded everyone else was o!vious to "avid. He was promoted to 9states 5anager. &his meant he had to administer all the company@s New Sudan estates from the capital, ort 5arkham. 5arkham was a port at the head of the highway that led into the interior. $t was a pleasant place in those days, e?u!erantly green with spectacular coastal scenery. As he e?plained to Sally. ;8e@re lucky to !e here.= &he >o! was routine !ut the way of life which went with it was attractive to people of "avid@s and Sally@s type. &hey lived in a romantic old !ungalow in a large tropical garden in a treelined street. &hey had a driver, a garden-!oy and a house-girl. &he Igirl@ was over forty with half a do+en children already. She disliked her new charges !ut she could act as well as Sally, playing the faithful old retainer, %lara, super!ly. She knew how to do everything perfectly !ut deli!erately spotted Sally@s clothes with !leach and disarranged "avid@s shaving things every morning. She could serve at dinner parties as well as the ne?t person !ut dropped things, !rought them in cold and forgot to clear away properly with such smiling charm that she was never asked to do it again. She sincerely approved when Sally stopped playing the formal hostess and moved on to curry !uffets and help-yourself drinks like everyone else. &hen, she was happy to wash up and put away properly. $t was her gift to Sally. &he >o! involved a great deal of travel around the interesting country. Sally was allowed to accompany "avid on the less arduous trips. Although left on her own she was 7uite happy to spend her days with the other ladies of leisure around swimming pools, or on verandas, discussing the shortcomings of the servants. She was the ideal company wife. She was attractive, entertaining, intelligent, !ut not too clever. 8ell !red, or, at any rate, a!le to act itG >olly to have around !ut not sillyG and she seemed to have not one single original idea in her head. 5r and 5rs "avid ryce-8illiams en>oyed playing the old colonial life and they en>oyed acting at !eing grown-up. &hey found the planet upon which they had landed easy and entertaining. ,ife would go on in much the same pleasant way

for ever. &he scenery would change, of course: first, a tiny house in a good part of ,ondon, when "avid was promoted to the #oardG then, when children came along, something large and comforta!le F pro!a!ly Hictorian F in one of the !etter su!ur!s from which "avid would catch the train into town each day. :ood !oarding schools for the children and a country cottage for the weekends, perhaps in 1rance. &he latter would !ecome the retirement home. eople would envy the ryce-8illiamses: such a nice family.

'

Da"i# an# Sa$$% (eet )a**%

Harry was a planter. Not working for the same company as "avid !ut for a much rougher outfit. Bne which did not have an 9states 5anager or a very impressive structure at all. $nstead, it had a cynical old accountant, 5ac, who had F it was his answer to everything F seen it all. He kept the !ooks in 5arkham, organised the sales and was the contact with the #oard in Sydney, which felt it had somehow !een lum!ered with something it did not want. Harry@s company F 5ac really F got its e?patriate plantation managers in New Sudan: there were plenty of men who did not want to go home for some reason. So long as they could do the >o! and proved honest enough in their dealings with the company, they would do. Harry was a!out average in terms of humanity as a whole !ut a little a!ove it in terms of the company. He had an agricultural degree and he was an honest, competent and even, on rare occasions, imaginative manager. He found the copra and cocoa plantation F with some gru!!y, hump-!acked #rahmin cattle on the rougher ground F easy to run and the salary sufficient for his needs. He liked the life. He liked !eing on his ownG he liked working with his menG he liked the 7uiet of the nights and the long walks under the moonG he liked the wornout, hot, la+y feel of the plantation in the sun-!leached middaysG he loved the roaring rains of the wet season when a wall of !lack water swept the country, isolating him in the old !ungalow. #ut a!ove all, he loved the lack of contact with other 9uropeans. His monthly trips to town were the only times he had any contact with themG most times, the only white man he talked to was 5ac, the only one, apparently, who understood him.

Harry@s plantation was a!out twenty miles down the coast. Access was via a rough road that Harry himself maintained. Sometimes the !each !ecame the road. $t was impassa!le at the height of the wet season. 8hen Harry met "avid and Sally, he was /0. He was // when "avid was transferred !ack to ,ondon. So he was always a !it older than them. &hey met at the ort 5arkham %lu!. Not what it had !een: anyone could >oin these days, so long as you could pay the fees. &hus the more undesira!le elements were kept out. Some of the companies paid for their senior staff, "avid@s amongst them. Harry paid his own fees. $t was a convenient place for him to stay in 5arkham !ecause it had a few simple !edrooms and you could get something to eat. &he clu! had !een re!uilt after the Japanese occupation !ut it maintained an atmosphere of old colonial leisure, with wide verandas, humming fans and lots of servants dressed in spotless lap-laps and white shirts. Situated at the head of the golf course, there was a stunning view out to sea towards a mountainous headland and the distant volcanoes of the Han islands. $t impressed "avid and Sally, indeed anyone who had not seen that sort of thing !efore. Harry took it for grantedG he could remem!er when the golf course had !een the airstrip. He liked the seediness of the place. LMLMLM 9ven hardened and determined !achelors, tough, antisocial types such as Harry and 5ac, have to eat somewhere, and 5ac reckoned that Nosh Nite at the clu!, on a 1riday evening, was the !est investment in nutritional and calorific intake there was around. &he women mem!ers, mostly e?patriates F and !y some sort of rotation in groups, which no one fully understood F cooked a !ig !uffet meal for everyone else. lenty of servants to do the washing up. 1or this great !ig feed and no effort, you paid a!out two dollars. &hat is, the same as the daily wage for one of the servants who did the washing up. $t had !een started !y some interfering woman, tired of her hus!and@s 1riday night

!eer !inges, with the idea that the massive weekend intake of alcohol would somehow !e reduced !y the food. &he idea had caught on and !ecome a holy clu! tradition amongst the e?patriate population of ort 5arkham. $ndeed, those e?patriates who did not attend were considered rather !eyond the pale, if not traitors to their race. :enerally, the men stayed around the !ar, the women hung around the food and then the lounge area, the children made a noise on the veranda and, in the school holidays, the adolescents sulked on the golf course or otherwise worked on their carnal knowledge where ever they could. Alcohol intake !y !oth males and females had never !een higher, enhanced !y the introduction of a pre-Nosh Happy Hour a!out the time "avid and Sally arrived. Nosh Nite at the ort 5arkham %lu! then. 5ac and Harry sitting at a small ta!le, apparently silently disgusted !y the domestic dramas going on all around !ut eating a good meal all the same. #eer stu!!ies and el!ows on a red and white che7uered cloth. Sally and "avid enter: fi?ed smiles. As if, as if a!solutely at ease, they weave their way around groups of humanity. &hey are evidently spoilt !y the demanding choice of upon whom to !estow the favour of their convivial presence. Ksual !alancing act of plate F macaroni cheese, !aked !eans, sausage roll and mashed potato F gin and tonic in tum!ler, knife and fork, red paper napkin. 1ind themselves in +one of local mem!ers F oh, so difficult to know what to do F see 5ac and Harry, white males, +oom in, sit. I5ind if we >oin youD 1avour you old ruffians with our educated, cosmopolitan and cultured presenceD@ Harry smilesG seems to suggest it@s a pleasure to !e visited !y two such e?alted and heavenly personages. 5ac shuffles to one side recognising, >ust in time, that their 2fuckingD4 right to e?ist more or less e7uals his own. "avid satisfactorily esta!lishes to himself that they have landed on inferior planet where natives friendly !ut may !ecome em!arrassingly deferential. &hese little green men will, he knows, !enefit from our, at any rate, my, educated presence. Sally follows lead. 1or all she is a superior !eing !eneath whose feet we are !arely worthy of !eing trodden, she is a delightfully

chatty sweetie really and they must not !ow down on !ended kneeG or if they do, it must not !e too em!arrassingly o!vious. &hinks "avid, IShe is getting 7uite good at this enhancement of my towering personality.@ ,ooks at her for five seconds F anyway, three. :ratitude !eats in 9nglish !reast F ort &al!ot way, I&hank :od $ found her: every appearance of the upper-ish middle classes and cheap at the price@. :ratitude spreads to himself. He looks at Harry. &hen he looks at 5ac in relation to Harry, and he dismisses 5ac as a !roken-down old drunkG as detritus that the receding tide of colonialism, he says to himself, has forgotten upon the a!andoned !each of empire. &his is !ecause the 5acs of the world frighten "avid. &hey are, apparently, independent types, also isolated, like himself, !ut isolated !y choice F some choice, at any rate F rather than !y emotional deficiency. Someone like 5ac, "avid suspects, might not even notice his e?istence, let alone make the conscious decision to dismiss him. So, anyway, with 5ac conveniently dismissed, "avid turns !ack to Harry. He looks at him and tries to work him out. He doesn@t fail !ut he !acks away from his immediate, distur!ing reaction. He starts again, according to a tried formula: too young to !e a 5acG too old, !y a decade at least, to !e one of the volunteer aid workers whom he could easily patronise. Not in work clothes !ut nonetheless untidy and uncared for. Hair needs cuttingG shirt needs ironing. 8onder what sort of shoes he@s wearingD $ have on my old 9nglish country !rogues. His ta!le manners are inoffensive !ut not 9nglish and the man will scoop up his food with his fork, el!ow on ta!le. He might have removed that el!ow with the entrance of 5y 8ife, !ut he hadn@t. All the same, all the same, for all his apparent casualness, "avid notes, consciously F and Sally unconsciously !ecause in a way she e?pects it F that this good-looking man with a !ig mouth has welcomed them. 8hen they had arrived at the ta!le F having lost their da++ling retinue along the way F he had welcomed them with a smile of such warmth on his whole face that he might have !een madly wagging his tail. And, as it

happened, it was true: despite his usual taciturnity, Harry was pleased !y the appearance of this o!viously insecure couple who so !adly wanted him to adopt them. He would adopt them. Sally and "avid appeared in Harry@s vision >ust at a point in time when he felt well fed, rela?ed and secure inside himselfG not, as was usually the case, wanting to rush !ack to the plantation with a sort of panic-driven desperation. He was happy, for this evening at any rate, to give these two people whatever it was that they might want of him. "avid might have indeed dismissed Harry as an illeducated, ignorant type F and in a small way he did F !ut, and against what he would have descri!ed as his own !etter >udgement, he didn@t want to. He was attracted. Harry reminded him a little of the doctor@s son. As he said to Sally later, while he undressed. ;Bdd fellow that Harry 8hatishisname. "on@t know what to make of him.= Harry, also, was interested in "avid ryce-8illiams. ,ater, 5ac said that Harry was only interested in them as a pair, as a couple, as a social specimen or, even, as a phenomenon. #ut he was only partly right !ecause Harry was also interested in each of them as an individual component of the phenomenon. So that is how it all started: as a not very serious dilettanteish interest on all their parts. #ut, it was always a !it lopsided. &here was "avid and Sally, the single animal recognised !y 5ac, on the one side, and there was Harry on the other. $n the end it would !e the animal, the !east more like, going off, leaving Harry !ehind. All the same, Harry was not at a disadvantage !ecause, as 5ac had noted, it was Harry who was the manipulator, playing on the ine?perience and the emotional dishonesty of "avid and Sally. &o start with, there was a lot of social posturing, especially on the part of "avid and Sally. &hey could say F to each other F that they loved Harry, !ut they did not. &heir use of the word love was general. &he words Ilove@ and Inice@ more or less covered everything they liked. And !ecause they were dishonest, they did not know themselves, or rather, they were afraid to know themselves, and therefore they !uried their social responses under the construction of ... of the

pu!lic !east that ena!led them to survive each day under the pu!lic ga+e. $t was the relationship with Harry which changed all that. Sally and "avid and Harry, therefore, at the same ta!le in the clu!. &he outcome of the possi!le, the potential, the potential social dynamics is, they are terrific. Bn our little spinning planet, these three meet, stay together for a while and work themselves out upon one another. &hey suffer as a result. #ut is it not suffering that makes life significantD And 5acD He detached himself, and watched. $t would !e interesting to see what happened !ecause the essential Harry was, as 5ac well knew, a loner. He was not the type to mess around with these social types. &hese bon viveurs. Something interesting was !ound to happen. LMLMLM A tropical night of thick and heavy darkness, damaged, like the flaws in a !lack diamond, !y a maddening random array of conflicting and discordant distur!ances that appear and are gone without sense: yellow light, hot !ody parts, fa!rics, human sounds and fragments of emotion. #ut "avid focuses. ;#usy isn@t itD= He !arks at Harry to !e sure he is heard. 5ac watches. Harry smiles upwards from his plate. ;<es it@s the food $ suppose. 1riday night and all that.= He returns to the plate. "avid cannot place the accent, which disorientates him. &here is an Australian drag in the intonation !ut also a more rounded pronunciation that suggests 9nglish upper-ish middle class to "avid@s practised ear. $t seems as if while the two roughnecks, one of whom is not so rough after all, are happy to share their ta!le, they e?pect the newcomers to entertain themselves. "avid F unusually F does not feel put down: the man, this particular man, who interests him, does not appear to !e deli!erately ill mannered, merely uneducated. He ignores his wife who is smiling !lankly at the

entire company, for all the word as if she is dead drunk. He shouts at Harry. ;$@m "avid ryce-8illiams !y the way,= shoving his meaty hand at Harry@s face, ;$ work for Haldan and %ruikshank. <ouD= "avid@s hand hangs in space until Harry takes it, holding the weight of it rather than shaking it as if testing its validity. &esting his own, more like. He retains his fork in the other hand. ;Harry 8illiams,= he says, ;may!e we@re related.= He smiles !ack at "avid, eye!rows raised in mock astonishment, as if one of them, at least, would find the idea astonishing. 5ac watches as the two men hold hands a!ove the food. He has seen this !efore. He goes to the !ar. $t is for "avid to disentangle his hand. Nonetheless, he holds Harry@s awhile as if there!y more a!le to categorise the Harry-ness of it. He tries !ut again !acks away from the idea. 8hen he finally lets go he !egins to eat Harry-style, scooping up the food with his fork. $t is not the usual "avid way of eating, which is to hold his knife and fork like pencils, close to his !ody, tight as if his eating is a very private F 9nglish F affair. 8owN Not this Harry-style at all, el!ow sticking out into Sally. 8hat@s upD "oes he want to point something out to herD Br perhaps he wants to push her awayD 8hatever it is, she notices nothing. Now they are all eating. $s it an awkward silenceD $t is not. Harry is happy: meals are for eating, not for conversation. "avid is happy: he knows not why and he does not associate his contentment with this man, Harry. Sally is happy that they are not alone and that they are sitting with someone who appears to !e an esta!lished mem!er of the clu!. 8hen 5ac returns with more drinks she waves at him as an old friend. Such a character and, for her, he will !e a character if that is what she wants, the stupid woman. He will get drunk enough to fall down the steps later if she wants. $n the noisy heat of the clu! they esta!lish a sort of relationship. ,ike cartoon characters on a desert islet, they sit with their !acks to the one !ent palm tree in the middle. &hey

look towards the distant hori+on !eyond which anything might lie. &hey make polite conversation !ut they hear little of what is said. $t is their own pre>udices C No, preconditioning is a !etter word: it is their own preconditioning which !uilds up ideas a!out the others. 8hat else can you do in a few hours of drinkingD 8hich, if nothing !etter, ena!les you to get through the eveningG ena!les you to !elieve you have made social contact, which may F or may not F prove to !e significantG ena!les you to fend off the thought of those encircling sharks that might attack should you test the sea, out there. &hey part company in the car park. 5ac does not fall down the steps although he stum!les, gra!!ing Sally in the process. #ut it is Harry who catches him this time. So Sally thinks Harry is sweet. ;<ou must come over sometime,= she says. ;<es, that would !e nice, Sally.= #ut he does not look at her, and "avid !reaks in: ;:oodnight Harry.= ;:oodnight "avid.= LMLMLM ;&hey seem BA, 5ac. 8hy don@t you like themD= ;"id $ say $ didn@t like @emD= ;Not in words.= ;So, there you are. :oodnight Harry.= ;:oodnight 5ac.= LMLMLM ;BddD $ thought he was rather sweet. 8e must ask him over. $@m sure he@s lonely.= She meant it for the moment !ut it would not have gone any further had "avid not reminded her. &hey lie in !ed, !ack to !ack. "avid sees that chap Harry in his mind@s eye. He tries to catch the essence of him !eyond what is his ha!it to construct, !ut fails. Harry slips away. LMLMLM

;$ wonder what@s happened to that Harry fellowD= "avid glances at the ta!le where they had sat the preceding week. He had e?pected to see Harry sitting there as !efore !ut it is occupied !y some other people who are C who are not Harry. ;8hoD= "runken stare and fi?ed smile as if she is miles away !ut she is desperate to see someone to whom she can wave. &here is no one. ;&he chap we met last week.= "avid is cross with his wife !ecause Harry is not there: ; lanter fellow,= he snaps at her. He is cross with Harry for not !eing there: ;Bdd manG not 7uite. C <ou know.= He snaps at Harry !ut Sally gets the mark. He looks around the room as if the act of looking will produce Harry, a!out whom he has thought all week. Sally interprets this as "avid !eing sweet, !ecause his !ad temper is usually aimed at waiters and the like for her sake F so it seems F producing results like a !ottle on the house. $t is sweet !ecause she can act getting him out of it without having to actually get close to him !ecause it is a predetermined thing that he will !e got out of it !y the adoring little wife. $t is a thing he does and is all part of playing at !eing married. &he ryce8illiamses, so sweet with each other, they imagine people saying a!out themG people who mostly do not say it !ecause they are playing the same game themselves. #ut, this time, this time although Sally does not notice the difference, "avid really is a !it cross. Not deeply cross !ecause already the resentment of Harry for not !eing there is working on him so that the cheap little poser is not worth 5y %rossness. 8hy would someone of my stature condescend to, to consort with a cheap little tick like him who is, after all, only a secondrate planterD Again, "avid thinks of the long-haired doctor@s son. #ut, all the same, "avid@s crossness is, for once, realG it is not enacted as a cover for esta!lishing his superiority. $t is indeed outrageous that an uneducated ho!!ledehoy like that should stand us, the ryce-8illiamses, up like this. $t is an insult to 5y 8ife. Sally takes her cue, focusing on Her Hus!and to mollify him as the wifely thing to do. She takes hold of his arm and

nu++les close, the sweet ryce-8illiamses, so much in love they don@t care what is going on around them. ;#ut "arling, he told us.= ;&old us whatD= 8hat outrageous thing did he tell usD ;He said he only came into 5arkham once a fortnight. &o get the wages and things for his men.= She s7uee+es his arm as she looks out into the room. ;"on@t !e such a crosspatch.= ;He said that to youD= "avid also looks out into the room, feeling a sta! of >ealousy. ;$t@s not his own plantation. He@s >ust a !um manager.= $t satisfies "avid to !e a!le to denigrate Harry in front of Sally. He is eager for her reaction. #ut there is no reaction. ;Bh look there@re the #ittams. Hello, 5argery,= she calls, leaving "avid to wave at one of her morning coffeeO!ridgeOtennisOswimmingOsitting and complaining a!out the servants friends. She is waved !ack at, they >oin the #ittams F they@re BA although #o!@s not 7uite, you know, he@s only red !rick F others come and go, and really it@s much more fun than hanging around with thingama>ig and his friend last week, we did rather get stuck with them. "avid@s !ooming voice dominates the evening. He organises everyone around ta!les and things and orders most of the drinks and therefore pays the most money, !ut it@s alright !ecause he earns more than they do. $@m not stuck here, $@m >ust learning the ropes and we@ll !e !ack in ,ondon in a few years@ time. <es, he@s marked for the #oard, he@s one of their B?!ridge men and frightfully clever at languages although that@s not much use here, $ >ust shout very loud. &hey seem to understand ha ha ha. &he ryce-8illiamses, such a sweet couple and so in love they adore each other. ;<ou@re in a #rown Study, old chap. 8hat you thinking a!outD= ;Bh nothing, #o!. Have another drinkD 8hisky was itD= ;&hanks "avid. <ou need cheering up. <our wife@s a gem. Bne in a million.= ;<es.= LMLMLM

;,et@s have that chap over ne?t week.= ;8ho@s that, "arlingD= She stretches her !ody inside the satiny pink nightdress !ut it doesn@t seem to have any effect. He@s drunk too much. Just like a man. And that idea satisfies her a little. He was so !ossy in the clu! he made the other men look like shadows. She was glad she was 5rs ryce-8illiams and she wondered if they could get her mother out for a few weeks. She vaguely imagined her mother in the clu!, proud and a little a!ove everyone else !ut charming and chatty without !eing !oring. eople grateful to !e noticed !y her. 5ummy, you must meet the #ittams. 5rs :rant, Sally@s mother, mum, so sweet. PeallyD &he old trout. 8ho does she think she isD ;&he planter chappy, Harry 8hatshisname.= She didn@t know what to say. &here was no reason why he should not come over !ut no o!vious reason why he should. She couldn@t even remem!er what he looked like. #ut "avid insisted. ;<ou asked him.= ;"id $, "arlingD= ;<ou said he must come over sometime.= ;Alright then, !ut how will $ tell himD= ;8rite a note and give it to the old drunk, 5ac. He@ll pass it on somehow.= ;8as he there tonightD $ didn@t see him.= ;He was propping up the !ar.= ;He might have come over to say hello.= &here was no answer to this so "avid gave none. He had !riefly chatted to 5ac each time he went to the !ar, watching him get more and more drunk. He was afraid the old man might say what he thought. ;<ou could@ve given him a note then,= said Sally, touching his toe with hers !ut getting no response. ;$ didn@t think.= %ross again. ;He can come here and we@ll go to the clu! together ne?t 1riday. &hen he can come !ack and stay on until Sunday. Br 5onday morning if he likes. Switch off the light.=

&hey lay side !y side on their !acks in the moonlight that flooded the room. A slight !ree+e rattled the palm fronds outside. #lack, >agged shadows !roke them up into pieces under a white sheet. ;So what will we do with himD "avidD Are you awakeD= ;<es.= %ross. No need to act the fond little wife here, in private. She would have made love to him if she thought he e?pected it. Bnce they got going she 7uite liked it. laying with his !ody as something 7uite detached from him. She liked to suck him !ut in the process she would have all sorts of ideas not associated with "avid. She would have sucked any good-looking man. #ut they didn@t get going so that was alright. She thought of their first time. "avid had !een so nice and gentle. She had imagined it would !e 7uite violent !ut it was >ust like having a !ath really. She had en>oyed his handling of her in his impersonal, efficient way. 8hen it was over she felt she had taken a step forward in her life. &he view of the 1en sky from her childhood came into mind. $t looked >ust the same !ut no !lack !ird swooped. ;8hat will we do with himD= ;"oD= He asked incredulously as if she was stupid. ;,ook after him.= &hen, sounding happier: ;$ !et he lives a sparse sort of !achelor life down there. 8e can give him some decent food. &alk. 8e@ll have a late !reakfast on Saturday. #it of a walk, siesta, we@ll go to the clu! and watch the film in the evening. 5ay!e some tennis on Sunday morning and you can make a really nice lunch.= ;Alright.= #ut there was a 7uestion in her voice !ecause it was unlike "avid to !other a!out someone who, after all, did not matter much. Although F she checked her own thoughts F Harry whatever-he-was-called had !een 7uite nice at the clu!, and it would make a change. ;$ know, $ know he@s not 7uite our type. And not very well educated. #ut we mustn@t em!arrass him and he@s pro!a!ly lonely. $ should think he needs looking after.= ;Bh "avid,= she moved a little closer. ;8hatD=

;<ou are sweet.=