Love Over Scotland - Alexander Hanchett Smith [147]
Matthew smiled pleasantly. He was pleased about the sale of the paintings, but that was not the real reason for his positive state of mind. He looked at Big Lou, busying herself now with the mysteries of her coffee-making craft. Should he tell her?
“Actually, Lou,” he said. “I’m feeling rather happy.”
“Aye,” said Big Lou, without turning round. “Well, that’s good to hear, Matthew.”
“Aren’t you interested in hearing why, Lou?”
Lou laughed. “I’m going to hear anyway.”
“Pat,” said Matthew, simply.
“What about her?” asked Lou. “Is she coming over for coffee?”
“No, she has a lecture. She’s up at the university.”
Big Lou turned round with the cup of coffee. “Well, she is a student, after all,” she said. “I suppose that she has to show up there from time to time.”
Matthew did not take his cup of coffee to his table, but stayed where he was, at the bar. “Pat and I . . .” he began. “Well, Pat and I are going out together.” He paused, adding rather lamely: 308 Poor Lou
“I thought you would be interested to hear that.”
Big Lou reached for her cloth and began to polish the bar with vigorous circular sweeps.
“Are you sure about this?” she said.
Matthew seemed taken aback, almost crestfallen. “Sure? Well, yes, of course I’m sure. I’ve liked Pat a lot right from the beginning. When she first came to work for me . . .”
“That’s the point,” said Big Lou. “She came to work for you.”
“I don’t see . . .”
Big Lou put her cloth to one side and leaned over to take hold of Matthew’s forearm. “Matthew: that girl is younger that you. She’s a nice girl, sure enough, but there she is at the beginning of her time at university. She’s just starting. She’ll be looking for something very different from what you’re looking for. She will be wanting a bit of fun. Parties and so on. What do you think you’re looking for? You’re almost twenty-nine. You’re thinking of settling down. That’s when men start to think of settling down. You need somebody your own age.”
“There’s only eight years between us,” said Matthew. “That’s nothing.”
Big Lou shook her head. “Eight years can be a big difference at certain stages in our lives. It all depends on where you are. There’s a big difference between being two and being ten, and between being ten and being eighteen. You see? Big differences.”
“I’m not Eddie . . .” Matthew began, and immediately regretted what he had said.
Big Lou looked at him. “I didn’t say you were Eddie,” she said quietly. “I didn’t say that.”
She looked at him, and Matthew saw that her eyes were filling with tears. She lifted her cloth and wiped at her eyes and cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Lou,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I wasn’t thinking . . .”
“I ken fine what he’s like,” sobbed Big Lou, her shoulders shaking. “I ken he’s no a guid man. But I loved him, Matthew. I thought I could change him. You know how it is. You have somebody you think has some good points and you think that those will be enough.”
Poor Lou 309
Matthew waited, but Big Lou said nothing more.
“Have you seen him?” he asked gently. “Have you ended it with him?”
Big Lou rubbed at her eyes. “I have. I saw him and told him that I didn’t think that it would work. Not after this last business with those girls down at that club of his. He said that I was being unreasonable but that he didn’t want to carry on with a woman who would lock him away. That’s what he said. Lock him away.”
“You’re well rid of him, Lou. You really are. And there’ll be other men. There are lots of nice men in this town. There are plenty of nice men who would appreciate somebody like you, Lou.”
Lou shook her head. “I’ll be going back to Arbroath,” she said. “There’s an old cousin of my father’s who needs looking after. I’ve done that sort of thing before. I can do that.”
“But Lou!” said Matthew. “You can’t leave us! You can’t leave all this . . .” He gestured helplessly about the room. At the tables. At the newspaper rack with its out-of-date newspapers. At the rickety stairs outside.
“I don’t want to,” said Lou. “But I don’t see what else