Джон Пристли - Benighted

There was a moment's silence, during which their ears seemed to catch the last faint vibrations of that voice from the darkened bed. They were hurrying towards the stairs, but they had not gone more than a few paces when the silence was broken. A yell of laughter went pealing through the house. It came from somewhere above, perhaps through an open door. It was the sudden laughter of madness. At the sound of it, the mind, hearing its own knell ringing in an empty sky, ran affrighted, and the heart, awaking out of its dream of peace and kindness, stood still.

Sir William heard the knocking again, sat up and rubbed his eyes, stared at the door for a minute, recovering his wits, then marched across and opened it wide. "Hello!" he cried, as the bedraggled pair staggered past him into the room. "And where the devil have you two been?" He followed them across to the fire.

"It's a long story," Penderel began; his face was pale and a little drawn, but his eyes were dancing.

"Then cut it short," Sir William growled. What a wild young devil he looks, he told himself; something between a gunman and a fiddler.

Penderel was busy taking off his boots. "Well, you see, I went out to Waverton's car to get my flask – - "

Here Gladys broke in: "And I went with him to the door, and then I was shut out and couldn't get in, and so I found him in the car and we sat there and talked." She looked at him rather defiantly, very bright-eyed. "And we've had to wade through a lake to get back."

Penderel was padding across the room in his stockinged feet, in search of his bag. "Why, what's been happening here?" he asked.

"God knows. I don"t. I've been hanging about here, waiting for somebody to come or something to happen. And just look at the place. It gets on your nerves. Every time I've wakened up I've had a shock."

"But where are they all?" Gladys looked bewildered.

"Don't ask me. Can't tell you." Sir William blew out his breath impatiently. "I'll tell you what I do know. The lights went out. Waverton and what"s-his-name – Femm – went off to find a lamp. They're finding it yet. Then that little screeching woman – she's as mad as a hatter, that woman, and I hope I've seen the last of her – well, she wanted someone to shut a window. I did that and listened to her raving. Then she dug out a little lamp and I came back with it. That's the one." He pointed to the tiny oil lamp burning on the table. "Good job I brought it, too, or I'd have been in the dark. Well, when I came back, Mrs. Waverton had disappeared. I didn't want to start roaming round the house, so waited here by the fire. Must have dozed off. Thought I heard a crash somewhere, but may have dreamt it. Woke up though, but nobody came, so dozed off again, and next thing I heard was you knocking."

Gladys exchanged glances with Penderel, who was coming back with some clothes over his arm. "We must investigate this," he said cheerfully. He moved over to a door opposite the staircase, to the left of the fireplace, a door that had not been opened yet. "I wonder what happens in here. Could I go in, do you think?"

"Why?" Gladys was alarmed. "What are you going to do?"

He grinned at her. "Change my trousers." He looked a little longer and his grin changed to a smile. "Back in a minute." The door closed behind him.

Sir William had turned quickly and was now holding Gladys lightly at arms length. "What's the idea, Gladys? Amusing yourself, or love at first sight?"

She met his look bravely. "It's real, Bill. You won't mind. You're too decent – and friendly. You ought to be glad."

"Oh! – ought I? – you monkey! Sharp work, I must say. But – tell me – is it – both sides? What about him?"

She nodded gravely. Then suddenly her face lit up, and the sentimental boy who still lived on inside him felt as if he were catching a glimpse of sunrise in a lost world. It was indeed the most exquisite sensation she had ever given him, and he struggled hard not to enjoy it. "I can't begin to tell you – - " she began.

"Then don"t," he broke in, still at odds with himself.

Then he softened: "No, go on. Let's hear all about it."

She came nearer and put a hand on his arm. "There isn't time. But listen, Bill. It's no good pretending to be cross. I know you don't mean it. He's coming to town, to be with me. I want him to do something, put his back into it, and I know he will. You saw what he was like before, absolutely fed up, not caring a damn about anything. Well, I'm knocking that on the head, knocked it already."

"Ah, the old game, eh?" He chuckled over her. "Reforming him already, are we? Then it's serious."

"It is, but it's going to be a hell of a lark too. Now you've got to help. You can easily find him a job, you've plenty to spare."

"For solid downright cheek," he exclaimed, "give me a young woman who thinks herself in love."

"Now don't be silly. It isn't cheek, and you know it's not. Besides, he's tremendously clever, you can see that, and full of push and go. Hurry up and say you will, he's coming back."

"Well, I'll see," he muttered, receiving her quick glance of gratitude. "I'll have a talk to him." He could see that door opening behind him in her very eyes.

"The world's great age begins anew." Penderel's voice rang through that dim place. His sudden high spirits seemed to light it up. "Gladys, Sir William, I've changed my socks and trousers – in the dark too, mind you – and now I'm a new man. I don't know what there was in that room. I just stood behind the door. Perhaps it was full of monsters, all watching me. By the way, you've been talking about me. I see it written in your faces. Your silence tells me all. I could even guess what you've been saying. Here's the evidence. Sir William knows, in his heart of hearts, that even if he would, I wouldn"t."

"You've been listening," Gladys cried, making a face at him.

"I only heard three words," he replied. "The rest was intuition, for which we men are now becoming famous. We may not be able to argue, to debate, to reason, but we know . Well, my first step in this new life is to locate the missing Wavertons. If necessary we could all creep round the house until we heard Waverton's snore. Then we'll sing Sir William here to sleep again, and after that, you and I, Gladys, will find a corner and talk and talk, at least I'll talk and you'll probably sleep. The dawn, which must be somewhere on its way, will find me talking. Mr. Femm will come down to breakfast – but you can't imagine him at breakfast, can you? – in fact, you can't imagine breakfast here at all. Try to think of it."

"I can"t," said Gladys, decisively. Then, after a short pause, very slowly and clearly she added, "I hate this house."

"Rum old place certainly." This from Sir William. Penderel said nothing. He was staring curiously at Gladys, who was strolling away.

She stopped. "It's the worst house I've ever been in. And that's saying a lot, as you'd admit if you knew anything about professional digs. There's something about it – I dunno – like a bad smell – something putrid." She walked on and then stood looking at the staircase.

Sir William took Penderel to one side. "No business of mine, of course," he said gruffly, "but what's this about you and Gladys?"

"I'll let you into the secret," Penderel returned gaily. "And, by the way, isn't it funny that officially, according to the book of words, you and I ought to be totally incapable of talking to one another like ordinary human beings? At the very least, we ought to be embarrassed to the stuttering point."

"Well, I'll tell you something." Sir William was emphatic. "That's just what I am."

"Not you!" cried Penderel. "And I'm not even pretending to be. I'm going to marry Gladys, that is if she'll have me; I haven't asked her yet. And that's the idea."