Go. Lovely Rose
“But who is she with ?” said Mr Carteret.
“A young man. She met him on the aeroplane,”Mrs Carteret said.”Now go to sleep.”
Outside the bedroom window the moon was shining brightly.
“Nobody told me there was a young man on the aeroplane,”said Mr CArteret crossly.
“You saw him,”Mrs Carteret said.”He was there when you met her at the airport.”
“I don’t remember,”said her husband.
“Yes, you do. You noticed his hat. You said so. It wasa light green…”
“Oh dear!” said Mr Carteret.”That man? But he’s too old for her. He must be nearly forty.”
“He’s twenty-eight, dear.Now go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep,” said Mr Carteret.”Three o’clock in the morning and I can’t get to sleep.”
“Just lie still, dear, and you’ll soon fall asleep,” said his wife.
It was a warm night in july. A gentle wind whispered in the trees outside the bedroom window.It sounded like a car coming. Mr.Carteret sat up and listened. But it was only the wind.’ Where are you going now?’said Mrs. Carteret.’ I’m going downstairs for a drink of water. Ican’t sleep. Ican never sleep in moonlight - I don’t know why. And it’s very hot too.’
‘Put your slippers on,’said Mrs Carteret sleepily.
He found his slippers and put them on. He went down to the kitchen and turned on the tap.
The water was warmish. He let the water run until it was cool enough to drink. Then he opened the kitchen door and went out into the garden.The moon shone on his roses. Mr Carteret could see the shape and colour of every flower.There they were:red and yellow and white,verysoft and sweet-smelling.Each flowe was wet with dew.
He stood on the short green grass and looked up at the sky. The moon was very bright. It was like a strong, white electric light shining down on the garden.
The wind wishpered again in the trees. Again Mr Carteret thought it was a car coming.
Suddenly he felt helpless and miserable.
‘Sue,’he said aloud,’ Sue…where are you? What are you doing? Susie, Susie, you don’t usually stay out so late.’
Susie. He always called her Susie when he was specially pleased with her. Usually he called her Sue. When he was cross with her, he called her Susan.
He remembered her nineteenth birthday,three weeks before. She was getting ready to fly off to Switzerland for a holiday.
‘How lovely she is!’ everyone said.’How pretty and grown-up! And she’s going to Switzerland all by herself! How wonderful!’
But Mr Carteret did not think his daughter looked grown-up. To him she looked smaller and more girlish then ever.’Too young to go away by herself,’he thought crossly.
He heard the church clock. Half past three. At that moment he heard the sound of a car. This time he was sure. He could see its lights coming along the road.
“You’re late, young lady’ he said to himself. He did not feel miserable any more; just a little cross. He could hear the car coming quickly along the road. Suddenly he began to run towards the house. He did not want her to find him there. He wanted to get back to bed.His pyjama trousers were too long. They were wet with dew. He held them up, like skirts, as he ran. ‘This is stupid,’ he thought. ‘What stupid things parents do sometimes!’
At the kitchen door one of his slippers fell off. He stopped to pick it up, and listened again for the sound of the car. All was quiet. Once again he was alone in the quiet, moonlit garden. His slippers were wet with dew. His wet pyjama trousers felt uncomfortable on his legs.
” lt didn’t stop,’ he thought. He felt cross and miserable again. “We always walked home from dances’ he said aloud. ‘That was part of the fun.’ .
Suddenly he felt frightened. He remembered the corner on the road near his house. ‘It’s a dangerous corner, ‘he said to himself. ‘There are accidents there every week. What if Susie and this man…’ He did not want to think about it. It was too awful.
‘And who is this man anyway? How do I know he’s a suitable friend for Susie? Perhaps he’s a married man. Or a criminal.’
All at once he had a terrible feeling about this man. ‘I felt like this when I saw her getting into the aeroplane,’ he thought.
‘I had a feeling of…of danger… accidents.’ He was shaking now. He felt coId and sick. ‘She’s had a crash in that man’s car,’ he thought. ” I’m sure of it’.’
Now he was walking backwards and forwards across the dewy, moonlit grass.’ I’m sure she’s had an accident,’ he thought. ‘In a minute or two the police will telephone - oh dear! Oh dear!’
He began to walk up the road in his pyjamas and bedroom slippers. He looked at the sky; there were lines of gold above the tree-tops. The moon was disappearing. It was almost day. Oh, were is she?’ he cried, and he began to run.
A few moments later, he thought he saw a pair of yellow eyes looking at him from the road. He realized that they were the lights of a car. It was standing at the side of the road. He did not know what to do about it. Should he go up to the car, and knock on the window and say, ‘Susan, come home? But there was always the chance that some other man’s daughter was in the car.
‘And then what will she think of me - out here in my pyjamas?’
He stopped and watched the light of day filling the sky. ‘What will the neighbours think if they see me?’ he thought. ‘I must go home and get to bed. I don’ t know why I’m worrying like this. I never worried like this when she was little.’
He turned and started to walk home. Just then he heard a car engine. He looked raund and saw its lights coming along the road, Suddenly he felt more stupid than ever. There was no time to get away. He could only hide behind a tree. The long wet grass under the tree made his pyjamas wetter than ever.
The car passed him. He could not see who was inside. ‘Perhaps it’s Susie,’ he thought. ‘And now I shall have to go home and change my pyjamas.’ He started walking again. Then he stopped once more. ‘What if it isn’t Susie?’ he thought. ‘Whaf if something really has happened to Susie?’
He felt sick and cold and miserable. The blood seemed to whisper and sing inside his ears. His heart seemed to fill his whole body.
‘Oh, Susie,’ he whispered, ‘Come home safely. Please…’
He realized that the car had stopped outside his house. A moment later he saw Susie. She was wearing her long yellow evening dress. ‘How pretty she is!’ he thought. He heard her sweet, girlish voice calling: ‘Goodbye.Yes. Lovely. Thank you.’
‘I mustn’t let her see me now,’ he thought. ‘I must keep out of sight. I must go in through the back door. Then I can go upstairs and put on dry pyjamas…’
A moment later the car turned and came back along the road towards him. This time there was no chance to hide. For a few miserable moments he stood there with the lights of the car shining in his eyes.
‘Look natural,’ he said to himself. ‘And hope that nobody notices me.’
The car stopped and a voice called out:
‘Excuse me sir.Are you Mr Carteret?
‘Yes.’ he said.’ I’m Carteret.’ He tried to sound cool and unworried.
‘Oh. I’m Bill Jordan, sir. I’m sorry we were so Iate. I hope you haven’t been worried about Susie?’
‘Oh! No. Of course not.’
‘My mother kept us, you see.’
‘But I thought you went to a dance.’
‘Oh no, sir. We went to dinner with my mother. We played cards until three o’ clock. My mother loves cards. She forgot the time.’
‘Oh, that’s all right. I hope you had a good time.’
‘Oh, we had a wonderful time, thank you. But I thought that perhaps you were worried about Susie…’
‘No, no. Of course not!’
‘That’s all right then.’ The young man looked at Mr Carteret’s wet pyjamas and looked away again.’ It’s been a wonderfully warm night, hasn’t it? He said politely.
‘Terribly hot. I couldn’t sleep.’
‘SIeep! I must get home to bed!’ He smiled, showing beautifuI white teeth. ‘Good night, sir.’
‘Good night.’
The car began to moye away. The young man waved goodbye and Mr Carteret called after him:
‘You must come and have dinner with us one evening…’
‘How kind! Yes, please… Good night, sir.’
Mr Carteret walked down the road. ‘He called me sir’ he thought. ‘What a polite young man! I like him.’
He reached the garden. The new light of morning shone on his roses. There was one very beautiful red rose, newly opened and dark as blood.’ I’ll pick it,’ he said to himself, ‘and take it upstairs for my wife.’ But, in the end, he decided to leave it there.
And then suddenly, a bird began to sing.
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