The invention of Morel - Adolfo Bioy Casares [27]
When the weaker of the two suns had set, Faustine stood up again. I followed her. I ran after her and threw myself at her feet and I said, I almost shouted, "Faustine, I love you!"
I thought that if I acted on impulse, she could not doubt my sincerity. I do not know what effect my words had on her,
for I was driven away by some footsteps and a dark shadow. I hid behind a palm tree. My breathing, which was very irregular, almost deafened me.
I heard Morel telling Faustine that he had to talk to her. She replied, "All right—let's go to the museum." (I heard this clearly.)
There was an argument. Morel objected, "No, I want to make the most of this opportunity—away from the museum so our friends will not be able to see us."
I also heard him say: "I am warning you—you are a different kind of woman—you must control your nerves."
I can state categorically that Faustine stubbornly refused to go away with him.
Morel said in a commanding tone, "When everyone else has gone tonight, you are to stay a little longer."
They were walking between the palm trees and the museum. Morel was talkative, and he made many gestures. At one point he took Faustine's arm. Then they walked on in silence. When I saw them enter the museum I decided to find myself some food so I would be feeling well during the night and be able to keep watch.
"Tea for Two" and "Valencia" persisted until after dawn. In spite of my plans, I ate very little. The people who were dancing up on the hillside, the viscous leaves, the roots that tasted of the earth, the hard, fibrous bulbs—all these were enough to convince me that I should enter the museum and look for some bread and other real food.
I went in through the coalbin around midnight. There were servants in the pantry and the storeroom. I decided it would be better to hide, to wait until the people went to their rooms. Perhaps I would be able to hear what Morel was going to propose to Faustine, the bushy-haired youth, the fat man, and green-eyed Alec. Then I would steal some food and find a way to get away from there.
It did not really matter very much to me what Morel was going to say. But I was disturbed by the arrival of the ship, and Faustine's imminent, irremediable departure.
As I walked through the large assembly hall, I saw a ghost- copy of the book by Belidor that I had taken two weeks earlier,- it was on the same shelf of green marble, in exactly the same place on the shelf. I felt my pocket; I took out the book. I compared the two: they were not two copies of the same book, but the same copy twice; the light-blue ink on both was blurred, making the word Perse indistinct; both had a crooked tear in the lower corner. I am speaking of an external identity—I could not even touch the book on the table. I hurried away, so they would not see me (first, some of the women,- then, Morel). I walked through the room with the aquarium floor and hid in the green room, behind the screen of mirrors. Through a crack I could see the room with the aquarium.
Morel was giving orders.
"Put a chair and table here."
They put the other chairs in rows, in front of the table, as if there was going to be a lecture.
When it was very late almost everyone had arrived. There was some commotion, some curiosity, a few smiles,- mostly there was an air of fatigued resignation.
"No one has permission to be absent," said Morel. "I shall not begin until everyone is here."
"Jane is not here."
"Jane Gray is not here."
"What's the difference?"
"Someone will have to go and get her."
"But she's in bed!"
"She cannot be absent."
"But she's sleeping!"
"I shall not begin until I see that she is here."
"I'll go and get her/7 said Dora.
"HI go with you," said the bushy-haired youth.
I tried to write down the above conversation exactly as it occurred. If it does not seem natural now,