Читать книгу Overture to Death - Ngaio Marsh, Stella Duffy - Страница 20

‘We must come back to earth,’ said Dinah. ‘There’s the church clock. It must be eight.’

‘I’ll kiss you eight times to wind up the spell,’ said Henry. He kissed her eyes, her cheeks, the tips of her ears, and he kissed her twice on the mouth.

‘There!’ he muttered. ‘The spell’s wound up.’

‘Don’t!’ cried Dinah.

‘What, my darling?’

‘Don’t quote from Macbeth. It couldn’t be more unlucky!’

‘Who says so?’

‘In the theatre everybody says so.’

‘I cock a snook at them! We’re not in the theatre: we’re on top of the world.’

‘All the same, I’m crossing my thumbs.’

‘When shall we be married?’

‘Married?’ Dinah caught her breath, and Henry’s pure happiness was threaded with a sort of wonder when he saw that she was no longer lost in bliss.

‘What is it?’ he said. ‘What has happened? Does it frighten you to think of our marriage?’

‘It’s only that we have come back to earth,’ Dinah said sombrely. ‘I don’t know when we’ll be married. You see, something pretty difficult has happened.’

‘Good Lord, darling, what are you going to falter in my ear? Not a family curse, or dozens of blood relations stark ravers in lunatic asylums?’

‘Not quite. It’s your Cousin Eleanor.’

‘Eleanor!’ cried Henry. ‘She scarcely exists.’

‘Wait till you hear. I’ve got to tell you now. I’ll tell you as we go down.’

‘Say first that you’re as happy as I am.’

‘I couldn’t be happier.’

‘I love you, Dinah.’

‘I love you, Henry.’

‘The world is ours,’ said Henry. ‘Let us go down and take it.’