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But there was no Quantum in Norfolk?
No. It was at home, in Eve’s study.
Why didn’t Eve just go for a run, then, during the day, rather than lying about all day on the floor of the shed?
Don’t be ridiculous. Eve never ‘went for a run’, anywhere, any time. What a terribly public thing to do. It wouldn’t be the same at all.
Why didn’t she try it, go for a run, right now, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, where no one would have seen her?
Eve sat up in the bed. She folded her arms.
Okay, okay. Where were we, again?
We were on the floor of the shed. Woodlouse.
And what happened then, after the woodlouse?
After the woodlouse moment of revelation she had fallen asleep on the floor.
Was it any wonder Eve couldn’t sleep now, with all that sleeping during the day?
Listen. Eve was lying in this too-hot bed in this too-hot room in this too-hot too-dark part of the world. At home, when she was awake like this, at least there were streetlights.
Why had that girl shaken Eve?
Jealousy? Intimidation? Malevolence?
Had it felt malevolent?
Well, no. Not really. It had felt as if–
As if what?
Well, curiously as if, when she took her by the arms, the girl was going to, well, strange as it sounds, kiss her.
But she didn’t?
No. She shook her.
If Eve got up and went to the window would she be able to look down and see the car there?
The girl would be asleep on its back seat. No, the back seats would probably fold down into a reasonable-sized sleeping space. Or she might be stretched across both front seats. Or in the passenger seat, reclined. Eve lifted the sheet, slipped out of the bed, made her way across to the ow f***
What was that?
That was the dressing-table edge.
No, what was that supposed word, f***? Can’t Eve say the word fuck?
Not out loud.
Why not?
Have you never had children? Eve rubbed at her thigh. She hauled back the curtain, holding her breath. Dust. These curtains were probably from before the war, and that was probably the last time they’d been laundered. When they left this house Eve intended to send Mrs Beth Orris a list of what had been unsatisfactory and a demand for some restitution.
Was the car still there?
Yes, parked next to their own.
How did someone sleep in a car? How did someone do it every night? Did she do this in the winter as well as the summer?
It would ruin your muscles and joints. Wouldn’t you like to sleep in the house, Amber? Eve had said when it came to the time to leave and she got up to go. Eve was hospitable. There’s plenty of room, she’d said. There’s a spare room, nobody in it, I think the bed’s even made up, it’s absolutely no trouble, you’d be welcome to. No, she said, I like to sleep in the car, and she came forward in the hall as if to give Eve a perfectly mannerly goodnight and thank you for dinner embrace, or kiss, whatever, and instead she took Eve firmly by the shoulders, so firm it was on the verge of painful, Eve could still feel the hold now, and before she had had time even to realize what had happened never mind say anything or be outraged at the intimacy of it, the girl had shaken Eve, hard, twice, for no reason, as if she had every right to.
Why did she think she had every right to?
Behind her, Eve heard Michael turn over. She watched him shrug the sheet further down his back. Eve had been sure to kiss Michael hard when his ‘student’ was out of the room.
Why?
To let him know.
What?
That it was all all right with her, whatever he was playing at now.
Wasn’t the girl (
well, hardly a girl, only about ten years younger than Eve for God’s sake
)
–
wasn’t her general rudeness to Michael this evening yet more proof of her being one of Michael’s conquests?
Yes, definitely.
Wasn’t she a lot older-looking than his usual?
Curiously, yes, and more salacious-looking, rougher-looking, with her high-cut shorts and her low-cut shabby shirt, certainly more shabby than Michael usually liked. She didn’t look
But there was no Quantum in Norfolk?
No. It was at home, in Eve’s study.
Why didn’t Eve just go for a run, then, during the day, rather than lying about all day on the floor of the shed?
Don’t be ridiculous. Eve never ‘went for a run’, anywhere, any time. What a terribly public thing to do. It wouldn’t be the same at all.
Why didn’t she try it, go for a run, right now, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, where no one would have seen her?
Eve sat up in the bed. She folded her arms.
Okay, okay. Where were we, again?
We were on the floor of the shed. Woodlouse.
And what happened then, after the woodlouse?
After the woodlouse moment of revelation she had fallen asleep on the floor.
Was it any wonder Eve couldn’t sleep now, with all that sleeping during the day?
Listen. Eve was lying in this too-hot bed in this too-hot room in this too-hot too-dark part of the world. At home, when she was awake like this, at least there were streetlights.
Why had that girl shaken Eve?
Jealousy? Intimidation? Malevolence?
Had it felt malevolent?
Well, no. Not really. It had felt as if–
As if what?
Well, curiously as if, when she took her by the arms, the girl was going to, well, strange as it sounds, kiss her.
But she didn’t?
No. She shook her.
If Eve got up and went to the window would she be able to look down and see the car there?
The girl would be asleep on its back seat. No, the back seats would probably fold down into a reasonable-sized sleeping space. Or she might be stretched across both front seats. Or in the passenger seat, reclined. Eve lifted the sheet, slipped out of the bed, made her way across to the ow f***
What was that?
That was the dressing-table edge.
No, what was that supposed word, f***? Can’t Eve say the word fuck?
Not out loud.
Why not?
Have you never had children? Eve rubbed at her thigh. She hauled back the curtain, holding her breath. Dust. These curtains were probably from before the war, and that was probably the last time they’d been laundered. When they left this house Eve intended to send Mrs Beth Orris a list of what had been unsatisfactory and a demand for some restitution.
Was the car still there?
Yes, parked next to their own.
How did someone sleep in a car? How did someone do it every night? Did she do this in the winter as well as the summer?
It would ruin your muscles and joints. Wouldn’t you like to sleep in the house, Amber? Eve had said when it came to the time to leave and she got up to go. Eve was hospitable. There’s plenty of room, she’d said. There’s a spare room, nobody in it, I think the bed’s even made up, it’s absolutely no trouble, you’d be welcome to. No, she said, I like to sleep in the car, and she came forward in the hall as if to give Eve a perfectly mannerly goodnight and thank you for dinner embrace, or kiss, whatever, and instead she took Eve firmly by the shoulders, so firm it was on the verge of painful, Eve could still feel the hold now, and before she had had time even to realize what had happened never mind say anything or be outraged at the intimacy of it, the girl had shaken Eve, hard, twice, for no reason, as if she had every right to.
Why did she think she had every right to?
Behind her, Eve heard Michael turn over. She watched him shrug the sheet further down his back. Eve had been sure to kiss Michael hard when his ‘student’ was out of the room.
Why?
To let him know.
What?
That it was all all right with her, whatever he was playing at now.
Wasn’t the girl (
well, hardly a girl, only about ten years younger than Eve for God’s sake
)
–
wasn’t her general rudeness to Michael this evening yet more proof of her being one of Michael’s conquests?
Yes, definitely.
Wasn’t she a lot older-looking than his usual?
Curiously, yes, and more salacious-looking, rougher-looking, with her high-cut shorts and her low-cut shabby shirt, certainly more shabby than Michael usually liked. She didn’t look
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