A Noble Profession - Page 18

“Not nearly as close as she did, sir, not nearly as close!” Austin exclaimed in a sudden fever of excitement. “Heavens, she seemed to be gobbling him up with her eyes! When he sat back in his chair like that, inert and on the point of fainting, she leaned over toward him like some beast of prey. It was dreadful, sir, I assure you. I was just going to make some remark to put an end to the business, when he noticed her. He sat up at once with a start. All his muscles contracted, and he managed to resume a more or less normal manner. Then he gave a gulp, and not only swallowed the mouthful that had stuck in his throat but finished up everything on his plate as well. But after that he turned very pale. He smiled—yes, he managed to smile—and mumbled a word of apology. Then he got up and left the room.

“She followed him with her eyes, her body still leaning in his direction as though attracted by a magnet. He came back a few minutes later. I’m sure he had gone out to be sick. He was as pale as ever, but he was still smiling. He sat down again. His eyes met Claire’s. He assumed an air of defiance . . . the same sort of manner he put on the following day, after the first jump, when he asked to be allowed to do another right away.”

The doctor, who seemed intensely interested in this account of the meal, interrup

ted him.

“Just a moment. This is absolutely fascinating. Don’t go on so fast. We were still at dinner . . .”

“At dinner, that’s right,” said Austin, who seemed to be curiously moved by the recollection of that scene.

“Well, he looked her straight in the eyes and . . . Do you know what he did then, sir? You’d never believe it.”

“I think I can guess,” Dr. Fog replied calmly.

“He took a second helping! Do you realize that, sir? He took a second helping, and not a small one, either!”

13

“So he took a second helping, did he?” Dr. Fog repeated.

There were at least two unusual elements in this dialogue: the vehement manner in which Austin was reporting these trivial details, and the deep attention with which the doctor was listening, each man seeming to attribute a tremendous significance to the petty incidents.

“I can see him now, sir. He had pulled himself together. With a courteous gesture he offered the dish first to Claire and then to me, and when we refused he helped himself again.

“That’s all, as far as the meal goes, sir. But I took advantage of that evening, when we were all together, to brief him on his mission. He was very disappointed and could not help saying so. He had applied for an active post, he told me. That was what he wanted—action. He repeated the word several times, with fierce insistence. I explained that we attached great importance to the contact with Gleicher and hinted that there might be some action as a result of it. He acquiesced. Then I got down to the details: how to justify their presence in the villa. I outlined my plan to both of them: they were to be a young married couple who wanted to find a little peace and quiet in the remote countryside.”

“I let you have a free hand on that score. So you decided they would be able to act their parts convincingly?”

"I was still of two minds about it, but that evening I was struck by the way she kept watching him all the time, with a jealous, anxious eye, and by his reactions to this.”

“I see,” said the doctor, rubbing his hands together.

“So you told them . . .”

“I assumed my most cloak-and-dagger manner, sir, and said: ‘From the moment you arrive in France, in fact, from this moment on, you have to behave at all times like a couple hopelessly in love. The war doesn’t mean a thing to you. Your one and only thought is for each other. This must be apparent in every gesture you make, in every word you utter.’ ”

Dr. Fog gave his young colleague a look of surprise, tinged with admiration.

“You told them that?”

‘‘Wasn’t I right? Didn’t they have to live the part completely?”

“Absolutely. And they followed your instructions?”

“To the letter, sir, with amazing success.”

“You didn’t suggest they should share the same bed, did you?”

“I didn’t go quite as far as that, sir,’’ said Austin.

The two men looked at each other in silence, then Austin went on, with the curious animation that seized him whenever he spoke about Claire.

“But I’m positive she would have raised no objection, sir. She is obsessed by one idea and nothing else, I’m certain. She would go to bed with the Loch Ness monster if it served the purpose she has in mind—she would even go to bed with him, perhaps, and with the same detachment she displayed during her parachute training.”

“What about him?”

“I didn’t bring up the question. All that matters is their outward behavior, and they’re both so conscientious about this that no one could ever suspect their true feelings. Their attitudes would deceive anyone who saw them. The sort of passionate interest she shows in him and which she betrays by endless furtive or piercing glances; the uneasy manner in which he, for his part, responds to this constant surveillance—all this had suddenly struck me, as I said before. It could

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