“So you got your wish in the end,” said Alice.
“No. It was always just office jobs. Nothing very glorious, I’m afraid. But let’s not ruin the evening by talking about the war. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“I’m the one who started asking personal questions. But yes. Let’s talk about something more cheerful. What was her name then?”
“Who’s that?”
“The girl who left you and made you suffer so.”
“That’s your idea of cheerful?”
“Why so cagey? Was she much younger? Go on, tell me—blonde, redhead, or brunette?”
“She was green, from head to foot, with huge bulging eyes and immense hairy feet. Which is why I’d rather just forget about her. If you ask any more questions, I’m ordering myself another.”
“Go on, and order two. We’ll drink to her health.”
It had got very late and the café was closing, but there were no taxis or dolmu to be found.
“Let me think,” said Daldry. “There must be some solution.”
The lights in the café went out behind them.
“I could walk home on my hands, but it might ruin my dress,” said Alice, attempting to do a cartwheel. Daldry caught her just before she fell.
“My goodness. You’re completely drunk.”
“Don’t exaggerate. I’m just a little tipsy. Blowing things out of proportion . . .”
“Did you hear yourself just now? I don’t even recognize your voice. You sound like a fishwife after a long day.”
“It’s an honorable line of work, hawking fish.” Alice did her best to put on a cockney accent and pretended to weigh invisible fish. “Two ’errings, a skate, an’ a dozen oysters! There you are, guv’nor. Barely keeps me in knickers, but you’re a nice chap, and it’s time to close up.”
“You’re completely soused.”
“Not at all. And with all you’ve had to drink since we arrived, you’re in no position to judge.” Alice turned in panic. “Where are you?”
“Next to you. The other side!”
She flailed and pivoted. “Ah, there you are. Shall we walk along the river?” She clutched a lamppost.
“It’s more of a strait, really.”
“Oh, that’s fine. My feet hurt anyway. What time is it?”
“Past midnight, Cinderella, but I’m afraid our carriage is missing, and you’ve turned into a pumpkin instead.”
“I don’t want to go to the hotel yet. I want to go back and dance at the consulate. What pumpkin?”
“I see how it is. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say.” Daldry threw her over his shoulder like a well-dressed but unruly sack of potatoes.
“What are you doing?” squealed Alice, giggling and squirming.
“I’m taking you back to the hotel.”
“Will you present me, enveloped, to the concierge?” she asked, imitating Can’s accent.
“If you like,” said Daldry, rolling his eyes.
“But I don’t want to be left with the concierge, okay? You promise?”
“Yes. Now if you wouldn’t mind hushing up until we get there.”
“There’s a strand of blonde hair on the back of your jacket. Now how did that get there? Oh. I think I lost my hat.”
Daldry turned to see the hat roll down the street and into the gutter.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to write that one off,” he grumbled.
When they got to the steepest part of the hill, he made Alice stagger beside him, keeping her upright by holding one of her arms over his shoulders. Her warm breath tickled his ear and neck, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The receptionist couldn’t hide his astonishment to see them arrive in such a disheveled condition.
“Miss Pendelbury is extremely tired,” said Daldry, with all the dignity he could muster. “If I might have my key and hers as well . . .”
The concierge offered his assistance, but Daldry refused.
He took Alice upstairs, laid her across her bed, took off her shoes, and covered her with a blanket.
He drew the curtains and watched her sleep for a moment before turning out the light and leaving.
He walked with his father and told him about his ambitions for the future. He wanted to do a large painting of the wheat fields that surrounded the family estate. His father thought it was a wonderful idea and offered to have the tractor pulled up so it could be featured in the picture. His father was proud of the tractor, a Ferguson that he had purchased new and which had just arrived from America by boat. Daldry imagined the wheat waving in the wind in a huge golden mass in the lower half of the canvas, with a wash of different blues across the sky. But his father seemed so happy at the idea that his new tractor might have pride of place . . . Perhaps he could just make it a red mark ridden by a black speck to represent the farmer driving it.
A wheat field with a tractor in it under the sky. It really was a beautiful idea after all. His father smiled and waved. His face appeared in the clouds, and a bell began to ring incessantly.
The telephone woke Daldry from his dream, pulling him out of the English countryside and into the pale light of day in his hotel room.
“For the love of God,” he groaned, sitting up in bed and leaning over to pick up the receiver.
“Daldry speaking.”
“Were you asleep?”
“Not unless this is also part of the nightmare.”
“Did I wake you? I’m sorry,” said Alice.
“Don’t be. I was just about to paint something that would have made me the landscape master of the second half of the twentieth century. It’s better that I woke up before things went too far and broke my heart. What time is it?”
“Nearly noon. I just woke up too. Did we really come home that late?”
“Are you telling me that you don’t remember?”
“I’m afraid not. What would you say to having lunch by the port before our appointment at the consulate?”
“Some fresh air would probably do me good, yes. What’s the weather like? I haven’t even opened the curtains.”
“It’s a glorious day. The city is positively shining,” said Alice. “Get ready, and I’ll meet you down in the lobby.”
“In the bar. I need a coffee.”
As he came down the stairs into the lobby, Daldry saw Can waiting with his arms folded across his chest. He had been watching Daldry.
“Been here long?” Daldry asked.
“Since eight in this morning, Your Excellency.”
“I’m dreadfully sorry. I wasn’t aware that we had an appointment.”
“It’s being normal that I come to my work in the morning. Your Excellency hired me as a guide.”
“Are you going to keep up the ‘Excellency’ bit for much longer? It’s rather annoying.”
“As long as I am angry with you. I made another appointment with a perfume maker, but now it’s too late. It’s already past noon.”
“Let me have some coffee and we can fight about it afterwards,” said Daldry, leaving Can to stew in his own juices.
“Your Excellency has any other particular desirements for the rest of his day?” called Can to Daldry’s back.
“That you leave me in peace.”
Daldry took a seat at the bar and watched Can agitatedly pacing up and down the lobby. He got up and went back to talk to him.
“Listen, I didn’t mean to be disagreeable just now. I’ll make it up to you and just give you the rest of the day off. Paid, of course. Besides, Miss Alice and I are only going to lunch and then we have a meeting at the consulate. Why don’t you come back tomorrow at a more civilized hour, say, around ten? We can go see the other perfume maker then.”
Can agreed to this and left. Daldry went back to the bar. Alice came down and met him a good fifteen minutes later.
“I’m sorry to have taken so long. I was just looking for my hat.”
“Did you find it?”
Alice bluffed. “Yes, of course. It was on the shelf in the wardrobe, right where it ought to be.”
“Really. So, are you still up for lunch on the harbor?”
“Change of plans, I’m afraid. We don’t have time for a coffee. Can is waiting for us in the lobby; he’s set up a tour of the Grand Bazaar. Isn’t that adorable?”
“I don’t know if that’s the word I’d use.”