“I never forget you!”
“Got your husband with you?”
“Not this time.”
“I see.” He studied her. “Looking rather thin and pale, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been dieting.”
“You women!” He snorted. “In a spot of trouble?” he inquired.
Shirley flared out at him.
“Certainly not!”
“All right, all right. I just wanted to know. Nobody ever tells me anything nowadays. And I’m getting deaf. Can’t overhear as much as I used to. It makes life very dull.”
“Poor Baldy.”
“And the doctor says I mustn’t do any more gardening-no stooping over flower-beds-blood rushes to my head or something. Damned fool-croak, croak, croak! That’s all they do, these doctors!”
“I am sorry, Baldy.”
“So you see,” said Mr. Baldock wistfully. “If you did want to tell me anything-well-it wouldn’t go any further. We needn’t tell Laura.”
There was a pause.
“In a way,” said Shirley, “I did come to tell you something.”
“Thought you did,” said Mr. Baldock.
“I thought you might give me-some advice.”
“Shan’t do that. Much too dangerous.”
Shirley paid no attention.
“I don’t want to talk to Laura. She doesn’t really like Henry. But you like Henry, don’t you?”
“I like Henry all right,” said Mr. Baldock. “He’s a most entertaining fellow to talk to, and he’s a nice sympathetic way of listening to an old man blowing off steam. Another thing that I like about him is that he never worries.”
Shirley smiled.
“He certainly never worries.”
“Very rare in the world nowadays. Everybody I meet has nervous dyspepsia from worrying. Yes, Henry’s a pleasant fellow. I don’t concern myself about his moral worth as Laura would.”
Then he said gently:
“What’s he been up to?”
“Do you think I’m a fool, Baldy, to sell out my capital?”
“Is that what you have been doing?”
“Yes.”
“Well, when you married, the control of it passed to you. It’s yours to do what you like with.”
“I know.”
“Henry suggest it to you?”
“No…. Really no. It was entirely my doing. I didn’t want Henry to go bankrupt. I don’t think Henry himself would have minded going bankrupt at all. But I would. Do you think I was a fool?”
Mr. Baldock considered.
“In one way, yes, in another way not at all.”
“Expound.”
“Well, you haven’t got very much money. You may need it badly in the future. If you think your attractive husband can be relied upon to provide for you, you can just think again. In that way, you’re a fool.”
“And the other way?”
“Looking at it the other way, you’ve paid out your money to buy yourself peace of mind. That may have been quite a wise thing to do.” He shot a sharp glance at her. “Still fond of your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Is he a good husband to you?”
Shirley walked slowly round the room. Once or twice she ran her finger absently along a table or the back of a chair, and looked at the dust upon it. Mr. Baldock watched her.
She came to a decision at last. Standing by the fireplace, her back turned to him, she said:
“Not particularly.”
“In what way?”.
In an unemotional voice Shirley said:
“He’s having an affair with another woman.”
“Serious?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you came away?”
“Yes.”
“Angry?”
“Furious.”
“Going back?”
Shirley was silent a moment. Then she said:
“Yes, I am.”
“Well,” said Mr. Baldock, “it’s your life.”
Shirley came over to him and kissed the top of his head. Mr. Baldock grunted.
“Thank you, Baldy,” she said.
“Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything.”
“I know,” said Shirley. “That’s what’s so wonderful of you!”
CHAPTER six
1
The trouble was, Shirley thought, that one got tired.
She leaned back against the plush of the Underground seat.
Three years ago, she hadn’t known what tiredness was. Living in London might be a partial cause. Her work had at first been only part-time, but she now worked full-time at the flower-shop in the West End. After that, there were usually things to buy, and then the journey home in the rush-hour, and then the preparing and cooking of the evening meal.
It was true that Henry appreciated her cooking!
Her eyes closed as she leaned back. Someone trod heavily on her toes and she winced.