That night came the introduction I longed
for. I was wandering about the dark, narrow lanes of Arles when a
half-drunken peasant tried to attack me. I cried out for help, and John
came to my defence with his strong arm and his clenched fist. There was
no need for formal introduction after that. We found we were staying at
the same hotel...."
Olive made no comment.
Elaine continued: "Nimes is fragrant with its memories for me. The
Jardin de la Fontaine, the Maison Carree, the Druids' Tower, the dear
Villa Clementine! There was a little pebbly garden and a fountain by
which we used to sit for lunch--there were two lazy old goldfish I used
to feed with crumbs. Darby and Joan!... Those memories of Nimes wash
away the burn of the vitriol, now that you've been so kind and
generous."
"I fail to understand," said Olive coldly. The interview was shaping
itself very differently to what she had expected.
Elaine turned her bandaged head towards her in surprise. "But John tells
me you've offered to release him!"
"Offered to release him! My dear Miss Verney, Clifford must have been
saying pretty things to soothe you. I'm sorry to pour cold water on your
dreams, but you'll have to learn the truth some time, and it's kinder to
tell you now. Release him! My husband is not an employee to be handed
over to somebody else at a moment's notice. There are such things as
marriage laws ... and divorce laws."
"Aren't we talking at cross-purposes, Mrs Matheson? I quite understand
all that.
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