walking home along the harbour we pass fewer people like us now the weather has turned but its busy enough half the way along the waterfront and stunning to look at, especially when the wind is up and theres not a soul to be seen you have it all to yourself and the gulls skimming over the gun metal waves and you can pretend. we dont go by mrs macquaries chair anymore since that figure in a ragged coat flapped out of nowhere in front of me and i made quite a scene according to x. they should block up those caves said mr harwood.
listless, i play with the bottles on mothers dressing table. a cretonne frock lying dishevelled on the bed, her necklaces strung over the mirror post. the apartment is very quiet. just the sound of x studying or doing the laundry. nothing from the street but the occasional plea from a passing vendor, charivari for pins and needles. the body is without horizon. o the things you get up to when you are out of your head with boredom. all deeds promiscuously done at all something. pluribus unum. havent caught me yet. incredibly perhaps the vagina strikes me as an optimal hiding place. no. unum. non omnis. o manibus. x has also taken over the greater part of the cooking. i help and so tasted of the ordeal of service. pass me that bowl. take it away. pass me that tellus again. actually you can put whatever you want in the bowl shell only throw it back in your face. with x the mot dordre in the kitchen is go canzicrans. one evening she tells me to help her with the fruit cake but five minutes dont go by before she is chasing me back into the living room her hands covered in flour. blind with fear i slam into the back of mr georges chair and almost lose my raisins.
chew chick!
mr george hollers, which is not exactly out of character. x is standing panting in the doorway brushing off her hands on the apron. quelle deconfiture! mr george eyes her admiringly. she certainly has the air of an ecoliere rolled out of the rue du fouarre plutot quune eleve dhenrietta town. je perds mon italien. and what did you do when you werent reading for the sisters.
i rang the bell.
ill watch her now, thank you, said mother, and x went back to the cake.
mr george winked. a fine. what do you pastors say. uncomeatable i am sure. how is your brother the flying farm mouse. i havent seen him here for weeks.
mothers fingers fell over my hair. well. planning his escape as always.
constance is managing a nest for him in town.
its only necessary. the dear is incapable of giving any amount of attention to that sort of thing. try to figure to yourself by what means the mere idea of upholstery might hope to enter the mind of someone who doesnt think of keeping his feet on the ground longer than the next week.
my wife has the eloquence of firsthand experience. her brother is running up more than one kind of debt.
i dont want you to think hes driving me. hes selfless is the problem. he simply hasnt the presence of mind. hed give it all away had he the slightest usucapionary notion. hell worry my father into his grave.
mr george had been preparing to leave. he has a certain chic, the pilot. i find it in excellent taste. today the aeroplane is the real measure of grandeur. they lift the vanes from the old ships, alors que le leviathan ne peut pas prendre la mer. a man like that will be many things to many people, never you fear. balzac as a child was forbidden to regard himself in the mirror. he kept a dog called mouche. so long in there! i hope you are taking the little one to visit i heard him whisper to mother in the corridor. one must respect that sort of attachment at her age. her playfellow. ah childhood is an anaesthetic. only after comes the pain and the sense of loss. the old story books. when did you first realise the pages were going to yellow in your lifetime. au revoir mr rose.
you are giving him a lot of your time, constance.
its just until he settles. you know hes been so distracted since his project for the americas fell through.
do you believe your parents are genuinely concerned.
hes always been like this, its traditional. you were very good at the glades by the way. dad was certainly trying hard with that stuff about your father.
hm. good thing we dont mix business anymore. bloody broad acres.
you know i saw a lovely living room set in grace brothers. we could do terribly with something a little smarter in here. these armchairs have had their day.
dad put up his hands. why dont you take the girls. your daughter misses you. you are making her jealous.
you mean it, she said, the whole set. i might see about curtains while im at it. and we must start replacing all the things that never arrived.
mother enlists x and i to trawl through the catalogues and the daily advertisements. snows continue to offer scores of remnants in silks. dress goods manchester and furnishing drapery silk remnants, crepe de chines, georgettes, plain and striped fuji, dress goods, checked and striped zephyr, plain and printed voiles, plain and printed marocains, plain toned crepes. a buyer of anything will call anywhere, ladies’ gentlemen’s left off clothing, old gold, artificial teeth, books, etc. write or phone m. morris, 248 elizabeth street, city. a buyer of left off clothing mr and mrs mitchell, 1397 bathurst st, city. reliable purchases, allow extreme value for any description ladies’ and gentlemen’s clothing, linen, furniture, trunks, artificial teeth, ladies changing for mourning, please note. letters, parcels attended. cretonnes and shadow tissues. a model store the house that keeps faith with the public. prices subject to market fluctuations. a harbour view from every window of every flat. three-valve sets, in cabinet, valves, loud speaker, and aerial, complete, £10. your old set as part payment. one goss straight-line two-roll newspaper printing press. please note our new telephone number. tooths tooths k.b. k.b. k.b. k.b. a true larger. a true larger. pigeon hose a modish jumper suit. johnsons wax electric floor polisher. organs need the help of a.m.s. bosistos parrot brand eucalyptus oil. lionel foxley burrows, 37, salesman, pleaded guilty to stealing 592 yards of army duck, 902 yards of sheeting, 220 yards of damask, 360 towels, a pair of blankets, 24 sheets, four suitcases, 40 pairs of riding breeches, 16 coats, 36 tunics, 10 pairs of trousers, and 48 shirts. the crown prayed no judgement. bone lace for a head. book lost, saturday, redfern. black and fawn long haired pom dog lost. reward. brooch, gold bar, opal near end, with chain and pin, lost, thursday. reward. black purse. containing notes and silver. pensioners money. brown pigskin wallet, containing notes, business cards, and private papers. lost. reward given. corella lost. £1 reward. detainers prosecuted. cranking handle. green raffia envelope bag, containing purse, beads, etc. inquiries would be made into the subjects of hydatids, snakebite, and infantile paralysis. said friese greene was at the bottom of it. returned from queensland, predicts a shortage of meat supplies, with consequent high prices. accompanied by hailstones as large as eggs, broke in singleton and goulburn yesterday. clear view screen for ocean liners.
no no no not them. dont know why he keeps them.
the patersons catalogue had a picture on the cover of fairies riding a magic carpet with the paterson store sitting between them. the grace brothers catalogue had coloured photos of the showroom floor. three and a half acres of furniture promised the lift boy, sweeping one hand out of the compartment as he discreetly accepted mothers penny in the other. thank you. she pushed us out before her, straightening her dress. now girls remember what to look for. it was pouring outside but it made the faintest sound inside, like distant drums, and the mere flickering of natural light above the partition walls, like refracted tinsel. mother spotted the furniture set for the living room behind a row of potted ferns and ran to put her name down in case it disappeared while x and i took the stairs to get a head start on the drapery.