The Empire Trilogy - J. G. Farrell [572]
‘Oh, do let’s go!’ pleaded Kate. ‘We’ll miss the beginning.’
‘But good gracious! Can that be legal?’
‘Perfectly, it appears.’
‘Do get a move on. There’s no time for all this talk!’ Melanie seized the dazed Matthew by one arm and began to drag him physically towards the verandah door. But she was very slight and Matthew was very heavy: she only managed to drag him one or two reluctant paces.
‘Well I must say …’ Matthew might have gone on standing there until they had missed the newsreel had not the Major noticed the girls’ anxiety and said: ‘But I can see these young ladies don’t want me to waste any more of your time. What are you going to see, by the way?’
‘Oh, wait,’ said Matthew. ‘Something or other called …’
‘A picture with Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh,’ gabbled Melanie, interrupting him with the presence of mind for which Langfields were notorious in Singapore. ‘Now we must go!’
And go they did, at long last. Hardly had they turned out into the road than they passed Joan’s open Riley tourer just returning from the Cold Storage. Joan caught sight of them as they passed and the girls saw her head turn. But by that time they were away. Matthew, who managed to be both a cautious and a reckless driver at the same time, was peering with grim concentration through his dusty spectacles at the road ahead. He did not see her.
40
One hour, two hours passed. The sun dipped towards Sumatra in the west. Now Matthew was once more peering at the road ahead with a grim expression but this time the Lagonda was going along Orchard Road in the opposite direction, to drop Melanie at the Langfields’ elegant house on Nassim Road. It was cooler. The city was bathed in a gentle golden light which, for a little while before sunset, came as a reprieve from the dazzling hours of daylight. But still, Matthew had the dazed and vulnerable feeling, the slight taste of ashes, which he always experienced when he came out of a cinema into daylight. The girls sat crammed together beside him, for the Lagonda was only a two-seater, each busy with her own thoughts. As far as Kate was concerned these had a somewhat apprehensive cast. She was afraid there might be a row when she got home. She was also afraid that she might have got Matthew into trouble by taking advantage of his innocence.
For the most part, however, Kate’s thoughts were concerned with the film they had just seen. As they were coming out of the picture-house Melanie had whispered: ‘Isn’t he divine?’ Kate had nodded vehemently, but with closed lips. She was not certain whether Melanie meant Matthew or Robert Taylor and was afraid of agreeing to the wrong one. But after a moment Melanie added condescendingly: ‘She’s not bad … but I don’t think that sort of woman is really attractive, do you?’ This time Kate shook her head vehemently, still with set lips. Melanie could only mean Vivien Leigh, that much was settled at least. But whether or not that sort of woman was ‘really attractive’ was something that Kate had not even considered. Nor was she even sure how to begin to have an opinion. Melanie was simply amazing! While she herself had been struggling to understand what was happening in the story (which had suddenly grown puzzling with Vivien Leigh dressed in a beret, a sweater and high-heeled shoes hanging around Waterloo Station and saying hello to soldiers for no obvious reason), Melanie had clearly been coming to the conclusion that if Robert Taylor had had to choose between her and Vivien Leigh he would have chosen Melanie!
Kate was also afraid that Melanie had been rather rude to Matthew. For Matthew had grown restless once the old news-reel was over (he had been gratified to see a hundred thousand Italian prisoners being marched along