Night Over Water - Ken Follett [126]
“I’m glad for you,” Diana said. “But it’s frightfully embarrassing for me.”
“I don’t see why you should be embarrassed. It must be nice to have two men desperately in love with you. I don’t even have one.”
Diana looked at her in the mirror. She was attractive rather than beautiful, with regular features and dark hair, and she wore a very smart red suit with a gray silk blouse. She had a brisk, confident air. Mervyn would give you a lift, Diana thought; you’re just his type. “Was he polite to you?” she asked.
“Not very,” Nancy said with a rueful smile.
“I’m sorry. His manners aren’t his strong point.” She took out her lipstick.
“I was just grateful for the ride.” Nancy blew her nose delicately on a tissue. Diana noticed that she wore a wedding ring. “He is a little abrupt,” Nancy went on. “But I think he’s a nice man. I had dinner with him, too. He makes me laugh. And he’s terribly handsome.”
“He is a nice man,” Diana found herself saying. “But he’s as arrogant as a duchess and he’s got no patience at all. I drive him mad, because I hesitate and change my mind and don’t always say what I mean.”
Nancy ran a comb through her hair. It was thick and dark, and Diana wondered whether she dyed it to conceal gray streaks. Nancy said: “He seems willing to go a long way to get you back.”
“That’s just pride,” Diana said. “It’s because another man has taken me away. Mervyn’s competitive. If I’d left him and gone to live at my sister’s house he wouldn’t have cared tuppence.”
Nancy laughed. “It sounds as if he has no chance of getting you back.”
“None whatsoever.” Suddenly Diana did not want to talk to Nancy Lenehan any longer. She felt unaccountably hostile. She put away her makeup and her comb and stood up. She smiled to cover her sudden feeling of dislike, saying: “Let’s see if I can cakewalk back to my seat.”
“Good luck!”
As she left the powder room, Lulu Bell and Princess Lavinia came in, carrying their overnight cases. When Diana got back to the compartment, Davy, the steward, was converting their seat into a double bunk. Diana was intrigued to see how an ordinary-looking divan seat could be made into two beds. She sat down and watched.
First he took off all the cushions and pulled the armrests out of their slots. Reaching over the seat frame, he pulled down two flaps in the wall at chest level, to reveal hooks. Bending over the seat, he unfastened a strap and lifted out a flat frame. He hung this from the wall hooks to form the base of the upper bunk. The outward side slotted into a hole in the side wall. Diana was just thinking that it did not look very strong when Davy picked up two stout-looking struts and attached them to both upper and lower frames to form bedposts. Now the structure looked more sturdy.
He replaced the seat cushions on the lower bed and used the back cushions as a mattress for the upper one. He took pale blue sheets and blankets from under the seat and made up the beds with fast, practiced movements.
The bunks looked comfortable, but frightfully public. However, Davy broke out a dark blue curtain, complete with hooks, and hung it from a molding on the ceiling that Diana had thought was merely decorative. He attached the curtain to the bunk frames with snap fasteners, making a tight fit. He left a triangular opening, like the entrance to a tent, for the sleeper to climb inside. Finally he unfolded a little stepladder and placed it convenient to the upper bunk.
He turned to Diana and Mark with a faintly pleased look, as if he had performed a magic trick. “Just let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll make up your side,” he said.
“Doesn’t it get stuffy in there?” Diana asked him.
“Each bunk has its own ventilator,” he replied. “If you look just above your head you can see yours.” Diana looked up and saw a grille with an OPEN/CLOSED lever. “You’ve also got your own window, electric light, clothes hanger and shelf;