The Catherine Wheel

Jane said to herself, “It’s going to be the most frightful evening-it really is.” And then all at once she wanted to laugh, because Mildred Taverner was obviously quite petrified at finding herself between Al and Freddy. She sat with her elbows well drawn in and picked at her food with an expression of concentrated gentility.

The soup-plates were removed and Fogarty Castell produced a napkined bottle of champagne with a flourish and filled Lady Marian’s beaker. As he passed round the table, Jane saw Florence Duke lift her glass and drain it, an example quickly followed by Al Miller. Miss Taverner took a birdlike sip and returned to picking at a pea.

“Freddy-” said Marian Thorpe-E

Freddy uttered again. Dividing the words with care, he enquired,

“What’s-marrer?”

“My sweet, you know champagne doesn’t agree with you.”

He shook his head solemnly.

“Absolutely-not.”

“Freddy, you’ll be ill!”

“Absolutely.” He took up the glass with an air of serious purpose and emptied it.

Lady Marian said, “Oh, well, he’ll pass out now,” and apparently ceased to take any further interest.

Jane found herself engaged in a conversation with Geoffrey Taverner. It was a very dull conversation all about the things he travelled in, his dry, precise ma

“We have a washing-machine which I do not hesitate to say is twenty-five per cent better than any other on the market-gas-controlled eleven pounds seven and six, electrically controlled thirteen pound ten, which, you will realize, is a considerable reduction upon the standard price.”

Here there was a hiatus, because Jane’s attention was diverted to Jacob Taverner, owing to the fact that she had just heard him say to Florence Duke, “Didn’t he tell you where it came out?” The words were spoken in an undertone, and why they should have reached her through the buzz of conversation, she had no idea. But reach her they did. She felt them slipping into her mind like small round lumps of ice, she didn’t know how and she didn’t know why. They gave her a cold, lost feeling.

She came back to Geoffrey Taverner talking about something that did your washing-up for you, by which time Fogarty Castell was going round with more champagne. Her own glass was untasted, and as he came by, she asked if she could have some water.

Geoffrey was saying, “ ‘Halves the labour and doubles the pleasure.’ Would you think that a good slogan? Or perhaps, ‘You give the party, we do the washing-up.’ Which of those would catch your attention and make you look a second time at an advertisement?”

“Well, I think perhaps the one about the party.”

He nodded complacently.

“That was my own opinion. I am glad to find that you agree with me. I have given a good deal of thought to the advertising side of the business, and some of my suggestions have been adopted.”

He embarked upon a full and particular description of the bright ideas which he had put up to Messrs. Hobbs and Curtin and the rather disappointing ma

Jane was wondering whether it was she or the firm which was to agree, and had just made up her mind that it couldn’t possibly do any harm to say, “Oh, yes,” when the voice of Al Miller came into the conversation with loud irrelevance.

“Where’s Eily?”

Fogarty Castell leaned between him and Florence Duke, champagne bottle poised.

“And where would she be if she wasn’t helping her aunt in the kitchen?”

Al picked up his glass, gulped, and set it down with a bang.

“Prettiest girl anywhere round about,” he said thickly- “prettiest girl anywhere. Oughtn’t to be in a kitchen-ought to be here.” He pushed back his chair. “Going to look for her- going to bring her here-good as anyone-better than half your society ladies.”

By this time everyone was looking and listening. Jacob Taverner said,

“Sit down, Al Miller! If you wish to see Eily you can do so presently.”

There was nothing in the words. The tone had an edge on it.

Whilst Al hesitated, Florence Duke put up a strong hand to pull him down. As he dropped back, she said not at all inaudibly,

“You won’t get your hundred pounds if you don’t behave.”

Fogarty patted him on the shoulder.

“You’ll be seeing her,” he said, and passed on.

The di

Jeremy relaxed so far as to lean across the corner of the table and murmur the word, “Genius! What do you suppose she’s like?”

Jane laughed.

“Let’s go and see, shall we-after di

On the other side of her Geoffrey was saying,

“Every hotel in the country ought to have our patent plucker.”

Jane discovered that she was too hungry to care who talked about what.

When the plates had been taken away Jacob Taverner waited a moment, and then got to his feet.

“It is, perhaps, just a little early in the evening for speeches, but I propose to make a short one and to give you a toast. I am sure that you must all have been feeling curious as to why you have been asked here. Well, I am going to explain. It is really all very simple. Here we are, a lot of cousins most of whom have never met before. I thought it would be a good thing if we did meet. In the course of two world wars family ties all over the world have been strained, wrenched, and generally bombed to blazes. A

Jane touched her glass with her lips and set it down again. Everyone drank except Freddy Thorpe-E

Jacob’s bright malicious glance travelled down the table. He repeated the words of the toast, “The Family,” and added, “May it never be less.” Then he went on briskly,

“Well, now I know you all, and you know each other.”

Jane thought, “How much does he know-how much do any of us know? I know Jeremy, and Jeremy knows me. He’s raging under that polite look. What he’d really like to do is to drag me out of the room and beat me, but he can’t, poor lamb. Too bad. I shall have to make it up to him somehow. I always know just what he’s thinking-now. But the others… Something’s the matter with Florence, but I don’t know what. She looks as if someone had hit her over the head and she hadn’t quite come to. Al’s drunk, and he wants Eily. Mildred”-a little inward laughter shook her-“in a way she’s hating every moment- Al on one side of her and Freddy on the other-two drunk men, and she’s miles and miles away from her little fancy work shop. But in a way she’s thrilled. I don’t suppose anything has ever happened to her before, and I don’t suppose anything will ever happen to her again, so she’s simply got to make the most of it… I wonder what Geoffrey’s thinking about. Perhaps a slogan introducing the word Family-‘Our Potato-peeler-every Family needs one.’…”