Then I lit the other, and by sheer luck itdid the
trick. A little window at the side gave on to the square.
But eight-fifteen means eight-thirty, said Eugénie
as they turneddown a side street.
She stood there letting fall white dust over
theblackened foot. He held out hiscamellia; his customary gift. Outside Delias door,
at the top, there was amilk-jug too, but it was empty. Every day, all day, she
thought, arguing points of law.
Did she want him to stay, did she want him to
go?
She leant out of the window and cried to theold man
with the rake:Make it blaze! It was the secondmatch that did the trick, she said to
herself as she paid thedriver and went in. The water rippled black as the
windruffled it. As she waitedfor him to speak, she raised her hand as if in
expectation.
They pushed through the swing doors into the Court
where the casewas being tried.
Men were snatching them and opening them and
readingthem as they walked on.
And now, she said, leaning back comfortably, tell
me all yournews. Her card was fixed by a drawing-pin to a panel.
He had caught sight of anilluminated
clock.
Martin was in the jungle alone, andthe sun was
sinking.
And thescavengers followed after, sluicing the
pavements.
One of the houses was brilliantly lit and from
thelong open windows came dance music. Well, thats over, said Eugénie, heaving a
sigh. Never had she seen him to suchadvantage; with such a brow, with such a nose.
He would have liked to go downand jump over the bonfire, but he was too old. She
spokedirectly and accurately, but the Colonel felt another twinge ofdoubt. She could
understand parts of what hewas saying; though how it bore on the case she did not
know. She stopped the cab opposite a little row of posts inan alley. That belonged
to his public life, his life in the Courts. Digby watched herstuffing the bits of
paper into the box.
Anyhow he was dead and that was an end of it.
Eugénielying back in her corner always let them talk; she neverinterrupted.