Casanova's Chinese Restaurant - Anthony Powell [51]
This attempt to lighten the tension was not very successful. Maclintick leaned down and tapped his pipe against his heel. Mrs Maclintick, though silent, was white with anger.
‘What about Toscanini?’ she demanded suddenly.
‘What about him?’ said Maclintick.
‘The Fascists slapped his face.’
‘Well?’
‘I suppose you approve of that.’
‘I don’t like the Fascists any more than you do,’ said Maclintick. ‘You know that perfecdy well. It was me that Blackshirt insisted on taking to the police station in Florence, not you. You tried to truckle to him.’
’Anyway,’ said Mrs Maclintick, ‘I want the Government in Spain to win – not the Communists.’
‘How are you going to arrange that, if they do defeat Franco? As it is, the extremists have taken over on the side of “the Government”, as you call it. How are you going to arrange that the nice, liberal ones come out on top?’
‘What do you know about it?’ said his wife, speaking now with real hatred. ‘What do you know about politics?’
‘More than you.’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Doubt it, then.’
There was a moment during the pause that followed this exchange of opinion when I thought she might pick up one of the battered table knives and stick it into him. All this time, Carolo had remained absolutely silent, as if unaware that anything unusual was going on round him, unaware of Spain, unaware of civil war there, unaware of Communists, unaware of Fascists, his expression registering no more than its accustomed air of endurance of the triviality of those who inhabited the world in which he unhappily found himself. Now he finished the beer, wiped his mouth again with the pocket handkerchief, and rose from the table.
‘Got to remove myself,’ he said in his North Country burr.
‘What time will you be back?’ asked Maclintick.
‘Don’t know.’
‘I suppose someone will have to let you in.’
‘Suppose they will.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ burst out Mrs Maclintick. ‘I’ll let him in, you fool. What does it matter to you? You never open a door for anyone, not even your precious friends. It’s me that does all the drudgery in this house. You never do a hand’s turn, except sitting upstairs messing about with a lot of stuff that is really out of your reach – that you are not quite up to ‘
By this time everyone was standing up.
‘I think probably Nick and I ought to be going too,’ said Moreland, the extent of his own discomposure making him sound more formal than usual. ‘I’ve got to get up earlv tomorrow … go and see Madlda … one thing and another …’
He succeeded in suggesting no more than the fact that the Maclinticks’ house had become unbearable to him. Maclintick showed no sign of surprise at this sudden truncation of our visit, although he smiled to himself rather grimly.
‘Do you want to take the book about Chabrier?’ he asked. ‘Borrow it by all means if you would like to read the rest of it.’
‘Not at the moment, thanks,’ said Moreland. ‘I have got too much on hand.’
Carolo had already left the house by the time we reached the front door. Without bidding us farewell, Mrs Maclintick had retired in silence to the kitchen, where she could be heard clattering pots and pans and crockery. Maclintick stood on the doorstep biting his pipe.
‘Come again,’ he said, ‘if you can stand it. I’m not sure how long I shall be able to.’
‘It won’t be till after Matilda has given birth,’ Moreland said.
‘Oh, I forgot about that,’ said Maclintick. ‘You’re going to become a father. Well, good night to you both. Pleasant dreams.’
He shut the door. We set off up the street.
‘Let’s walk by the river for a bit to recover,’ Moreland said. ‘I’m sorry to have let you in for all that.’
‘Was it a representative Maclintick evening?’
‘Not one of their best. But they understand each other in an odd way. Of course, that is the sort of thing people say before murder takes place. Still, you grasp what I mean when I insist it is good for Maclintick to see friends occasionally. But what on earth can Carolo be doing there? Everyone must be pretty short of cash for Carolo to live with the Maclinticks as a lodger. I should not have thought either party would have chosen that. All the pubs are shut by now in this area, aren