Loving, Living, Party Going (53 page)

'Don't be so ridiculous, she's resting that's all.'

'She had a glass of whisky.'

'Oh, Robert, darling, you do make me laugh. Who has ever heard of Auntie May being drunk or who could ever imagine such a thing?'

'I never said she was tight, all I said, or suggested rather, was that you should all go down there where Max is and that your aunt was very ill and needed you probably. I don't care. Where is Angela?'

'Oh, she's got a beau with her, they've wandered off. All right, darling, then I'll go but I don't want the others to know, do you understand, not a word to them. If Auntie May is ill I'll see to it. Now then you stay here.'

'What shall I say about you?'

'I'll be back in ten minutes.'

Julia came up to Robert with Miss Henderson and said really he had not been very clever, they had found Alex and Angela all for themselves. She then asked him where Claire had gone. He said, oh, she had been called away and that he had found Max, he was in the bar now and, it slipped out so to speak, that was where Claire was going.

'Is that where he is then? Has Claire gone to fetch him?' asked Evelyna.

'No, there was something else, I really don't know where she was going.'

Julia said she thought they had better send Edwards for Max. Miss Henderson said Claire would come back and that now they had all found each other it would be madness to separate once more. Julia said again, but wouldn't it be better to send Edwards to fetch Max. At this Edwards broke in and said Mr Adey had told him to stay where he was and that he would be along himself directly.

Julia said: 'Oh, I think it's outrageous,' and all were embarrassed and fell silent.

At that three things happened. A large force of police filed in, followed by some of the crowd who had been waiting outside, Alex came back without his driver and the station master marked them as being Miss Wray's party and was bearing down on them. This force of police stamped in and their steps sounded ringing out as though they were on hollow ground. The crowd followed and lined up by where they had halted so you could only see the tops of their helmets. Alex said it was rather hard if they were all of them going to be arrested now, particularly after he had paid for his taxi. Miss Henderson said she thought they ought to give you receipts for payments of that kind and the station master said:

'Am I by any chance speaking to Miss Julia Wray?'

'Yes.'

'Miss Wray, your uncle rang me up to say we were to take particular care of you and your party. Now, I don't like to see you waiting about here in all this crowd, can I not persuade you to wait in the Hotel? It belongs to the Company and I am sure you will be very comfortable there.'

'That's very nice of you, yes, I think we should love to, but the only thing is we aren't all together yet you see, that is, the rest of our party hasn't all arrived.'

Alex interrupted, 'My dear Angela's just there and we know where Max is, I think it's a marvellous idea, we could have a fire.'

'But what about Max?' Evelyn said.

Alex became agitated at this, he felt he might be prevented from getting his comforts.

'Bother Max,' he said, 'what consideration has he shown us? Why he said he would wait for me at his flat' (this was not true) 'to come on to the station with me, but when I got there I found he was gone.'

Julia asked why they could not get into their train and be off. She spoke sharply for her. And then they all moved off without discussing that hotel any more, with the station master explaining how this fog had complicated things. Edwards came to them as they made their way and Alex brought Angela up with her young man. Edwards asked what he was to do and Julia said: 'You can wait for Mr Adey, Edwards, as he told you to.' Robert said he must go and tell Claire and he would let Max know as well, and that he would meet them in the hotel.

After Alex had fetched them and they were making their way back to the hotel, Robin said to Angela, he supposed they were now going to dance attendance on Max Adey who, although he was host, had not had the decency to turn up yet and was probably putting drinks down wherever he was. 'Well,' Angela said, 'and have you ever seen him drunk?' 'Of course I have, stinking drunk. My dear girl, what on earth d'you think?' 'I bet you haven't, no one ever has. And I suppose you're never tipsy either. I don't know why I have to listen to all this, I wish you'd go and have done with it. You are so tiresome, now go and give me some peace.' He went off fast, almost running, not trusting himself to speak. As she came up she told the
others self-consciously Robin had had to be off. They paid no attention and she found that Julia had returned to the question of why they could not get into their train and go. After all she said this fog was only twenty feet up, it was not down to ground level and the station master, with that patience he was paid to have, explained again how impossible it was to see one's hand in front of one's face less than three hundred yards south of where they were now. And in this way they got near to the hotel.

Before they went inside Evelyn took charge and sent Robert into the bar to tell Max and Claire where they were going, with instructions that he himself was to come back at once if possible with Max. When they got inside she told the station master she was sure he was very busy and that now they were here they would be quite all right. This was nerves on her part, there was no reason for getting rid of him. Speaking to Julia and not to Evelyna he replied that he must just reserve a room for them, they would be guests of the Company, it was far too crowded for them to stay in any of the public rooms and he made off to that broad open window which had R
ECEPTION
lit up over it. One pale young man in morning clothes was inside this window and twelve people were bothering him.

'But I thought Max was to be here, where on earth is he?' Julia said. 'It's perfectly wicked, here we all are turning up to time and not a sign of him, only that wretched Edwards.'

'Here he is now, darling,' Angela said and as he came up Mr Adey said: 'There you all are,' as if it was they who had been lost and were late.

Evelyna was so relieved she became snappy. She asked him where on earth had he been and he said why here, of course, and Julia, knowing how he disliked other people getting rooms and meals – if he was in a party he would never let anyone else pay for whatever it might be – told him the station master was getting rooms for them.

'Can't have that,' he said, and it was one of those things Julia liked about Max, she thought it generous. She went forward with him to the reception desk. The young man in morning clothes recognized Max and, 'why Mr Adey,' he said, 'are you in the station master's party, what can I do for you?'

'I don't know anything about the station master, I want three sitting rooms.'

'All on one floor, Mr Adey?'

'Of course not. No, two on one floor and one on the floor above.'

'I'm afraid they'll have to be with bedrooms, we don't have sitting rooms separate.'

'I know, I know. Be quick about it.'

In the meantime Julia had tried to explain to her station master that Max would not hear of the Company taking a room for them because he was like that, it was very kind of the station master, it wasn't that she was ungrateful, nor was Max being rude, it was most kind of him to have looked after them and she was sure he must be very busy and ought to get back. When she returned, Max was being given three keys.

'But, darling,' she said, 'whatever do we want with three rooms?'

'Claire's aunt,' he said, 'sick.'

'Oh no.'

'Doesn't want anyone to know.'

'How awful.'

'Just arranged for three men to carry her up the back way where she won't be seen.'

'What on earth is the matter with her, Max, is she bad?'

'Don't know; tight I should say. Look out, here's the others.'

As they came up, a hall porter was with them and when he saw it was Max he said to him:

'Same room, sir?'

'No; 95, 96 and 196 this time.'

Alex said so this was where he had been hiding, and, tactlessly, what had he wanted with a room before? Max lied again, he said he had had to see his lawyer.

Julia knew he was a liar, it was one of those things one had to put up with when one was with him. But it did seem to her unfair that he should go and spoil it all now that he was here. She had forgotten how much she had resented his not turning up in her pleasure at seeing him, and now he was telling them this fairy tale about his lawyer. People were cruel. But perhaps he had wanted to make his will. Anything might happen to any one of them, everything was so going wrong. As she looked about her, at the other travellers, she could get no comfort out of what she saw. Perhaps he was not lying, which was frightening enough, but if he was then why was he lying? And this time she could not look through her things for charms, they had been left behind with her porter.

She was in a long hall with hidden lighting and, for ornament, a vast chandelier with thousands of glass drops and rather dirty. It was full of people and those who had found seats, which were all of them too low, lay with blank faces as if exhausted and, if there was anything to hope for, as though they had lost hope. Most of them were enormously fat. One man there had a cigar in his mouth, and then she saw he had one glass eye, and in his hand he had a box of matches which now and again he would bring up to his cigar. Just as he was about to strike his match he looked round each time and let his hands drop back to his lap, his match not lighted. Those standing in groups talked low and were rather bent and there was a huge illuminated clock they all kept looking at. Almost every woman was having tea as if she owned the whole tray of it. Almost every man had a dispatch case filled with daily newspapers. She thought it was like an enormous doctor's waiting room and that it would be like that when they were all dead and waiting at the gates.

She saw Claire coming and rushed forward to meet her and cried:

'My darling, my darling, in this awful place I wondered whether we weren't all dead really.'

'Julia darling, it is such a bother. I've just come from Auntie May, Robert found her when he was looking for Max and she is not at all well. I don't want a soul to know. I'm very worried about her.'

'Claire, I am sorry. Can I do anything?'

'I think we must get her in here, don't you?'

'Of course we must. As a matter of fact I know Max has taken an extra room, well to tell you the truth he's taken three rooms, just like him.'

'Yes, he's been very good. He's arranged to have her taken in the back way, poor Auntie May, she can't walk, you see. But nobody must know. Of course, darling, I would be miserable keeping it from you but not a word to another soul, please. Max didn't say anything, did he?'

'No, not to me.'

'That's all right then. Darling, I must fly and see that her room is all ready,' and when she made off Julia went to where Max was waiting for her to make him swear he would not tell another soul because of Claire.

And now Claire, who had been stopped by Evelyna, was telling
her about Miss Fellowes and was swearing her to secrecy. Alex thought something was going on so he came up and he was told on condition that he did not breathe it to anyone. So in the end there was only Miss Crevy and Robin, her young man, who did not know. He would not have cared if they had all become lepers (after going off he had made up his mind he ought to keep his eye on Angela in case she might want him; he was now trying to get in the back way so she could not know he was hanging around). Angela felt very much out of it all. She had noticed, and it was obvious they were keeping secrets from her. Now Robin was gone she felt she had been left on their hands and felt inclined to blame him for going off like that without saying good-bye.

Robert came in and stopped by Julia.

'Do you know about it?' he said.

'Yes, I do.'

'Well, they are just carrying her in now.'

'Robert, is she very ill, poor thing?'

'I don't know. It's such a bore for Claire.'

'Robert, what on earth are they doing to the doors?'

'Oh that? They are putting up steel shutters over the main entrance so they told me when I came in. I say, you know about Claire not wanting anyone to know about her Aunt May? Well, when we were small there was a bamboo patch in the kitchen garden and do you remember we used to imagine there was something out of the way in the middle of it they grew so thick? I was only thinking of it just now. Well, Claire was practically brought up with us, wasn't she, when we were small and when she was sent over to play with us you know we never told her about those bamboos. Curious, wasn't it?'

'But, my dear, they aren't going to shut us up in this awful place, surely? What do they want to put shutters up for and steel ones?'

'It's the fog, I believe. Last time there was bad fog and a lot of people were stuck here they made a rush for' this place I believe to get something to eat. Good Lord! it doesn't make you nervous, does it?'

It did make Julia feel very nervous and she moved to Alex where he happened to be teasing Angela because he might be nervous too which would comfort her. People who weren't nervous were useless because they did not know what it meant, but however nervous he
was, and if he wasn't then Julia felt she would like to make him be, he would comfort because, after all, he was a man.

There was a crash.

'Good heavens,' Alex said, 'what's that?'

'It's the steel door,' Julia cried, 'they've shut it down and how ever Claire will get her—' and then she was silent as she expected Angela did not know. 'Oh, Alex dear,' she went on, 'we're shut in now, what shall we do, isn't it awful?'

He could think of nothing better to say than what do you know about that? There was a hush, everyone in this hall was looking towards that now impenetrable entrance, women held cups halfway to their lips, little fingers of their right hands stuck out pointing towards where that crash had come from. And it was this moment the individual who could not or would not light his cigar chose to light the match in such a way that every match in his box was lit and it exploded. He was so upset his cigar tumbled out of his mouth; it was his moment, everyone now looked at him.