Читать книгу A Pure Clear Light - Madeleine John St. - Страница 21

As far as David Packard was concerned this was a working dinner: this was his best and even last chance to learn everything he needed to know, all the answers to the questions which had arisen after his and Gillian’s first meeting, lunching with Georgie Bligh at a City restaurant where the odour of money made one slightly lightheaded, and the exquisite excellence of the food was a complete irrelevance.

She explained everything rather neatly: David’s questions became more intelligent as time went on, and Simon became interested in the subject in spite of himself. ‘Think you’d like to have a crack at directing this thing, old cock?’ said David.

‘I’ll see when you’ve actually finished writing it,’ said Simon.

‘Work of a moment,’ said David.

Simon thought, in a moment of something near panic, or shame, of his own still inchoate project. He should be in Hammersmith, working on it – or at any rate, towards it – not sitting here in Camden Town opposite a woman called Gillian Selkirk from whom he couldn’t without difficulty take his eyes. It was almost, now, towards the end of the meal, as if she too had become aware of this fact and was holding the other end of a line which he had thrown to her. At moments it might seem slack, at others taut, but never did she seem altogether to let go. Simon began to be afraid.

‘The question is,’ said David, ‘is it a scam, or is it a cock-up? That’s the question.’

‘Yes,’ said Gillian. ‘That is indeed the question.’

‘Or is it,’ said David – after all, he was a writer, he got paid to think these thoughts – ‘is it a hellish hybrid of the two? I say, that’s not bad, is it? Hellish hybrid. What do you think?’

‘Well, there’s the alliteration, there are always marks for that,’ said Sarah. ‘But I’m not really happy about the coupling of the Anglo-Saxon word with the Greek. Not really. That seems to work only when it’s done for comic effect.’ ‘Wonderful woman,’ said David to the others, ‘isn’t she? Read English, you see. Knows all these things.’

Simon looked at Gillian, he dared to look at Gillian. ‘Is he right? Is it – for want of a better phrase! – a hellish hybrid?’ She smiled at him, returning his look. ‘It’s too soon to say,’ she said. ‘And so it may be for a long, long time.’

‘Just like life, really,’ said Sarah cheerfully. ‘Shall we have some coffee?’