The Furies by Irving McCabe Page B

And this morning the newspapers broke the news that Austria had formally declared war on Serbia.
    Another loud cheer erupted near the front of the café, and Gabriel looked up to see Chief Fischer standing in the doorway, swamped by a small crowd of civilian well-wishers clapping him on the back and trying to shake his hand. There was a look of flustered irritation on the older man’s face as he tried to escape this unwanted attention, glancing desperately around the room for sight of Gabriel. Gabriel waved a hand to catch the chief’s eye, and then saw his mentor extricate himself from the mob and make his way between the tables to sink into the chair opposite.
    â€˜Unbelievable,’ the chief said, his forehead shiny with perspiration as he loosened his collar. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’
    â€˜Isn’t it amazing how war can inspire a nation?’ Gabriel replied.
    The chief scowled. ‘Only three months ago everybody in Vienna was complaining about unemployment and poor wages. Now all they want to do is enlist and take revenge for the Archduke.’ He shook his head. ‘People. Really.’
    Gabriel laughed. ‘Do you have time for a coffee?’
    The chief pulled out his pocket watch. ‘I think we have fifteen minutes or so but then we’ll have to try and find a cab in this mob.’ With a deft hand movement he caught the eye of a waiter, who arrived at the table and took an order for two iced coffees. After the waiter had gone, the chief looked across at Gabriel. ‘Well, how did it go?’
    â€˜Very well I think,’ Gabriel replied. ‘I managed to tie up a few loose ends from the ballistic testing, so now I can finish writing the research paper—’
    â€˜No, no,’ the chief interrupted in an exasperated voice. ‘Not your research…did you speak to Georg?’
    Gabriel hesitated before answering. ‘No…’ He hesitated again. ‘I…I decided not to.’
    â€˜Ah. I see.’ Disappointment flickered across the older man’s face. ‘Well I hope you don’t regret this, Gabriel. A wife and family bring great comfort to a man and Dorothea is a fine young woman. With Georg’s Viennese connections you could have had a large private practice in Vienna, a big house with a maid and cook, a holiday chalet in the mountains—’
    â€˜I know, I know.’ Gabriel sighed and then smiled apologetically. ‘Look, I can’t say exactly why, but it just doesn’t feel like the right thing—’
    â€˜Feel? That’s interesting coming from you, Gabriel, a man of science.’
    â€˜I
do
have feelings,’ Gabriel protested. ‘And I do understand why you think Dorothea would be a good match for me, but…’ He shrugged and fell silent, finding it difficult to express the instinct that told him that proposing to Roth’s daughter would be wrong. He glanced at the other patrons in the café: at a nearby table he saw a young couple, an army reservist in his grey field uniform sitting with a young woman, probably his bride or sweetheart, Gabriel thought. They sat there with hands entwined and eyes locked on each other, utterly oblivious of their surroundings, clearly very much in love. The heat rose to Gabriel’s cheeks as he watched them, feeling as if he was intruding into something private, something alien: he had never experienced a moment like that – with Dorothea or any other woman. He turned back to the chief, who had a resigned expression on his face.
    â€˜Well, maybe you’re right,’ said the chief as the waiter arrived and placed two glasses of iced coffee on the table. ‘With war declared, perhaps getting married now isn’t such a good idea after all. These are uncertain times.’
    Gabriel – relieved his mentor understood his position, and now wanting to change the topic – slid the newspaper across the table.