The Red Cliffs (21 page)

“
Alison is very quiet,
”
observed Neil, and she realised that, amid the observations of all the others, she alone had had nothing to say.
“
I hope you
’
re not bored, Alison?
”

“
Far from it,
”
she said.
“
I find it all most interesting.
”

She had almost said it was an eye-opener, and in the last fraction of a second had changed her mind, since that implied that her eyes had been shut before; and he had already accused her of blindness.

Many incidents of the weekend had, in fact, been eye-openers to her, for they had met several times before the tour of the works. There had been Corinne
’
s cocktail party, the lunch picnic on the lonely stretch of the seashore, and there had been the dinner party at Neil
’
s house where he had proved himself a perfect host. The girls had made an occasion of that by dressing in their best, and while Lucy looked her usual pretty, attractive,
’
brown-bird self, Alison and Corinne, in all their glory, were dazzling; the one so dark in a white dress, the other so blonde in a sea-green that matched her eyes. Not even an ankle in plaster could deprive Corinne of glamour, and when they were seated round the dinner table, she certainly held the stage. Her blonde hair was swirled round on to the top of her head, making
the most of her long, graceful neck. Her eye make-up was dramat
i
c and not meant, to be unobtrusive, but was so skilfully applied that Alison admitted its attraction. She was seated at Neil
’
s left hand, and she surpassed herself in witticisms and drolleries, so that everybody was laughing with her, and Neil unbent more than Alison had ever known him to.

Alison tried to give her attention to the rest of the party. Lucy was obviously enjoying herself with Neil
’
s friend, Malcolm, and Ralph was happy to be opposite Alison where he could watch her, catch her smile and occasionally talk to her, and still be entertained by Bonnie at his side.
Y
et, however much she told herself not to stare at Neil and Corinne, she could not keep her eyes from straying in their direction. She saw that Neil sat very straight: even at the dinner table there was a commanding air about him: yet his face, turned down and sideways towards Corinne, wore such an affectionate smile that, for the first time, Alison wondered how serious and how strong was the bond between these two. She had always received the impression from Corinne that the relationship was a light one, but looking at them together now, she realised that they were building up between them an intimacy of shared views, shared outings and a like sense of humour. Neil had never smiled at Alison like that; then relationship was a pric
kl
y one, both of them on guard, on the defensive. Consciously, they allowed no warmth between them; and only when they were with other people, as now, was there any ease of conversation between them. Yet, with feminine perversity, Alison continued to feel shut out and to be oddly depressed by it: oddly assailed by a feeling of loneliness in the middle of this bright and interesting party. She forced herself to look away from that end of the table, from Neil
’
s blonde hair shining with its reddish tinge under the light and Corinne
’
s paler blonde, to talk to the vicar at her side, to smile at Ralph with a tenderness that surprised him.

“
I pestered Neil to put me next to you,
”
said Hugh Berritt,
“
so that we could talk about the crib.
”
He added quickly:
“
Not only about that, of course, but Neil was telling me you had done a marvellous Joseph; and only then did I let myself believe you were seriously going to do it for us. It is for us, is it?
”

“
If it ever gets finished in t
i
me, yes. I have more than Joseph finished. One of the shepherds is ready and I
’
m busy on another. They are quite large figures, you know—the whole thing will need a good deal of room in your church.
”

“
May I come and see what you have done?
”

“
Of course—you can see the rough drawings for the Wise Men from the East too.
”

“
And Mary? Have you decided about her yet?
”

“
No. I
’
m keeping an open mind and I have a few vague ideas. The trouble is that I
’
m getting so interested that I don
’
t want to stop doing it to do anything else.
”

“
We shouldn
’
t interfere with your ordinary work,
”
he said.

“
I hope none of my work is ordinary,
”
laughed Alison, and then tried to remove his discomfiture and assure him she understood him completely.

“
None of it ever is,
”
said Ralph from across the table.
“
The most ordinary idea, by the time it
’
s been in the crucible of Alison
’
s imagination, comes out as something arresting.
”

“
Darling, what a nice thing to say to me,
”
said Alison, surprised, and by chance her remark fell clearly into one of the silences that occur in any group of people, so that everybody heard it, and Neil looked quickly from Alison to Ralph and back to Alison. When the noise of conversation increased again to cover his question, he said to Corinne:
“
Have they known each other a long time, those two?
”

“
More than a year, I believe. Why?
”

“
They seem quite attached to each other, but they aren
’
t engaged, are they?
”

“
No, but they would be if Ralph had his way. He
’
s mad about her.
”

Neil looked at Corinne with a smile.

“
A possible exaggeration
”
he asked.

“
No, not a bit. Ralph and I went to several shows and concerts together before I came down here, and he let me know quite definitely where his affections were fixed. I haven
’
t, known them long, but I gathered from Lucy that they
w
ere inseparable all last year, went off to the Continent on holiday together, everybody expected them to come back engaged; but something went wrong. Don
’
t ask me what it was, I have no idea; but they still seem very fond of each other.
”

Neil changed the conversation, but several times that evening he observed Ralph and Alison together. He began to believe that Corinne was right about Ralph
’
s feelings, but he could not gauge Alison
’
s. He saw that they went through the long french windows on to the terrace together, and being a man who usually took prompt steps to find out what he wanted to know, he later followed them.

Alison had suggested going out. She had stood by the open window with Ralph, and looked out at the moon shining down through wisps of transparent, pearly cloud on to the serene sea and the fields and cliffs, transforming a familiar scene to one of great dark shadows and open silvery planes.

“
It
’
s a wonderful night,
”
she said.
“
Shall we go out for a while?
”

Ra
l
ph was only too happy to fall in with her suggestion. They walked along the paved terrace, and then down a wide flight of stone steps to the closely shaved lawns below. Ralph tucked Alison
’
s arm into his, and some of the lonely feeling left Alison. They paced slowly over grass that was cool to Alison
’
s thinly-sandalled feet, but not wet, and they talked of trivial things—the dinner party, the people there—while their minds were not on their words. Ralph wondered if it were safe to approach Alison more closely; and she wondered at the comfort she felt with him, and if her old feeling for him was being renewed. So that when he turned her into his arms, there seemed something inevitable about it, and they kissed each other with so much warmth, so ardently, that Alison could believe it was just like the old days.

Neil had no difficulty in finding them. Although they stood in the shadow of shrubs, her white dress was plainly visible on this moonlit night. He felt he had found out what he wanted to know. His slight cough separated them, turned two startled faces towards him.

“
I am sorry to intrude,
”
he said.
“
The others wanted you to know that they are dancing: but please come in your own good time.
”

He went away again, and Alison
’
s mood was broken.

“
We had better be good guests
and
go and dance,
”
she said, and Ralph turned obediently to walk beside her. He would not put anything into words, lest words should spoil it; but he would consolidate his gains slowly and surely. He and Alison danced together several times and her feeling of loneliness vanished altogether. Other people wanted to dance with her too, and at last came a moment when Neil stood before her, with hand extended.
“
You
’
re neglecting your host, Alison,
”
he said. She went into the strong band of his arm.

“
I think you have been well looked after,
”
she said.
“
It
’
s a pity that Corinne can
’
t dance with you.
”
He did not reply, and Alison decided to leave polite conversation to him. They danced in silence, but after the first few seconds, there was no awkwardness about it. Momentarily, she wondered at herself for dancing with this man who had always been hostile to her brother, in a house which, at the end, had been closed to him; then she told herself that the past was past, and was so surprised to find herself yielding this much, that her step faltered and Neil trod on her toes.

“
Alison, I
’
m sorry. Clumsy clot that I am.
”

“
No, it was my fault,
I
was thinking.
”

She looked up into his face as she spoke, and their glance held and settled into a long, searching look.
“
It cou
ld
n
’
t have been about me,
”
said Neil.

“
Actually, yes, it was about you.
”

“
Then it couldn
’
t have been anything good,
”
he went on.

“
It wasn
’
t anything bad.
”

“
This then must be the beginning of a new epoch,
”
said Neil. She lowered her eyes and they finished the dance, Alison wondering if an epoch of friendliness with Neil would be a satisfying experience.

When the music stopped, Ralph was talking to Bonnie and Neil stayed with Alison.

“
May I get you something to drink?
”

“
No, thank you.
”

“
What about Falcon, Alison? Has he ever bothered you again?
”

“
No,
”
s
h
e said.
“
Now that Corinne is with me, he hardly ever comes to the house.
”
Then, to her surprise, she found herself telling him about the lunch-time meetings.
“
He rather haunts me in town,
”
she said.
“
I have an idea he must lie in wait near the office to see
w
here I go: I changed my lunch place once and he followed, so I went back to the original place and he followed again. But he behaves himself,
”
she added hastily, since Neil was beginning to look angry.
“
He can hardly do anything else in a public cafe.
”

“
Don
’
t encourage him, Alison.
”