Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry [32]
"Concepta knows my habits, you see." The Consul regarded the tray now on which were two glasses, a bottle of Johnny Walker, half full, a soda siphon, a jarro of melting ice, and the sinister-looking bottle, also half full, containing a dull red concoction like bad claret, or perhaps cough mixture. "However this is the strychnine. Will you have a whisky and soda?... The ice seems to be for your benefit anyway. Not even a straight wormwood?" The Consul shifted the tray from the parapet to a wicker table Concepta had just brought out.
"Good heavens, not for me, thank you."
"--A straight whisky then. Go ahead. What have you got to lose?"
.".. Let me have some breakfast first!"
"--She might have said yes for once," a voice said in the Consul's ear at this moment with incredible rapidity, "for now of course poor old chap you want horribly to get drunk all over again don't you the whole trouble being as we see it that Yvonne's long-dreamed-of coming alas but put away the anguish my boy there's nothing in it," the voice gabbled on, "has in itself created the most important situation in your life save one namely the far more important situation it in turn creates of your having to have five hundred drinks in order to deal with it," the voice he recognized of a pleasant and impertinent familiar, perhaps horned, prodigal of disguise, a specialist in casuistry, and who added severely, "but are you the man to weaken and have a drink at this critical hour Geoffrey Firmin you are not you will fight it have already fought down this temptation have you not you have not then I must remind you did you not last night refuse drink after drink and finally after a nice little sleep even sober up altogether you didn't you did you didn't you did we know afterwards you did you were only drinking enough to correct your tremor a masterly self-control she does not and cannot appreciate it"
"I don't feel you believe in the strychnine somehow," the Consul said, with quiet triumph (there was an immense comfort however in the mere presence of the whisky bottle) pouring himself from the sinister bottle a half-tumblerful of his mixture. I have resisted temptation for two and a half minutes at least: my redemption is sure. "Neither do I believe in the strychnine, you'll make me cry again, you bloody fool Geoffrey Firmin, I'll kick your face in, O idiot!" That was yet another familiar and the Consul raised his glass in token of recognition and drank half its contents thoughtfully. The strychnine--he had ironically put some ice in it--tasted sweet, rather like cassis; it provided perhaps a species of subliminal stimulus, faintly perceived: the Consul, who was still standing, was aware too of a faint feeble wooling of his pain, contemptible....
"But can't you see you cabrón that she is thinking that the first thing you think of after she has arrived home like this is a drink even if it is only a drink of strychnine the intrusive necessity for which and juxtaposition cancels its innocence so you see you might as well in the face of such hostility might you not start now on the whisky instead of later not on the tequila where is it by the way all right all right we know where it is that would be the beginning of the end though a damned good end perhaps but whisky the fine old healthful throat-smarting fire of your wife's ancestors nació 1820 y siguiendo tan campante and afterwards you might perhaps have some beer good for you too and full of vitamins for your brother will be here and it is an occasion and this is perhaps the whole point for celebration of course it is and while drinking the whisky and later the beer you could nevertheless still be tapering off poco a poco as you must but everyone knows it's dangerous to attempt it too quickly still keeping up Hugh's good work of straightening you out of course you would!" It was his first familiar again and the Consul sighing put the tumbler down on the tray with a defiantly steady hand.
"What was that you said?" he asked Yvonne.
"I said three times," Yvonne was laughing, "for Pete's sake have a decent drink. You don't have to drink that stuff to impress me... I'll just sit here and cheer."