John Fowles - The Magus

A minute later, a time and place fixed, I was reading once more my letter to Alison. The injured Malvolio stalked through every line.

In another minute there was no letter; but, as with every other relationship in my life, pounded ashes.

Mitford hadn’t changed at all, in fact I could have sworn that he was wearing the same clothes, the same dark blue blazer, dark gray flannels, club tie. They looked a little more worn out, like their wearer; he was far less jaunty than I remembered, though after a few gins he got back some of his old guerrilla cockiness. He had spent the summer “carting bands of Americans” round Spain; no, he’d received no letter from Phraxos from me. They must have destroyed it. There was something they hadn’t wanted him to tell.

Over sandwiches we had a talk about the school. Bourani wasn’t mentioned. He kept on saying that he’d warned me, and I said, yes, he’d warned me. I waited for a chance to broach the only subject that interested me. Eventually, as I’d been hoping, he made the opening himself.

“Ever get over to the waiting room?”

I knew at once that the question was not as casual as he tried to make it sound; that he was both afraid and curious; that in fact we both had the same secret reason for meeting.

“Oh God, now I meant to ask you about that. Do you remember, just as we said goodbye…”

“Yes.” He gave me a tightly cautious look. “Never went to a bay called Moutsa? Rather jolly, over on the south side?”

“Of course. I know it.”

“Ever notice the villa on the cape to the east?”

“Yes. It was always shut up. I was told.”

“Ah. Interesting. Very interesting.” He looked reminiscently across the lounge; left me in suspense. I watched him lift, an infuriating upward arc, his cigarette to his lips; the gentleman connoisseur of fine Virginia; then fume smoke through his nostrils. “Well that was it, old boy. Nothing really.”

“But why beware?”

“Oh it’s nothing. No-thing at all.”

“Then you can tell me.”

“I did, actually.”

“You did!”

“Row with collaborationist. Remember?”

“Yes.”

“Same man who has the villa.”

“Oh, but…” I flicked my fingers… “wait a moment. What was his name?”

“Conchis.” He had an amused smile on his face, as if he knew what I was going to say. He touched his moustache; always preening his moustache.

“That’s right. But I thought he did something rather fine during the Resistance.”

“Not on your nelly. Actually he did a deal with the Germans. Personally organized the shooting of eighty villagers. Then got his kraut chums to line him up with them. See. As if he was all brave and innocent.”

“But wasn’t he badly wounded, or something?”

He blew out smoke, despising my innocence. “You don’t survive a German execution, old boy. No, the bugger pulled a very fast one. Acted like a traitor and got treated like a bloody hero. Even forged a phony German report on the incident. One of the neatest little cover-up jobs of the war.”

I looked sharply at him. A dreadful new suspicion crossed my mind. New corridors in the labyrinth.

“But hasn’t anyone… ?”

Mitford made the Greek corruption gesture; thumb and forefinger.

I said, “You still haven’t explained the waiting-room business.”

“His name for the villa. Waiting for death or something. Had it nailed up on a tree in Frog.” His finger traced a line. “ Salle d'attente .”

“What happened between you?”

“Nothing, old boy. Absolutely nothing.”

“Come on.” I smiled ingenuously. “Now I know the place.”

I remembered as a very small boy lying on the bough of a willow over a Hampshire stream; I was watching my father casting for a trout. It was his one delicacy, casting a dry fly, posing it on the water as soft as thistledown. I could see the trout he was trying to coax into a rise. And I remembered that moment when the fish floated slowly up and hovered beneath the fly, a moment endlessly prolonged in a heart-stopping excitement; then the sudden swift kick of the tail and the lightning switch of my father’s strike; the ratcheting of the reel.

“It’s nothing, old boy. Really.”

“Oh for God’s sake. What’s it matter?”

“All damned absurd.” The fish took the fly. “Actually I was out walking one day. May or June, I can’t remember. Bit browned off at the school. Went over to Moutsa to swim and well, I came down, you know the place, through the trees and what did I see—not just a couple of girls. But a couple of girls in bikinis. Quick recce. Niftiest beeline I knew how towards them, said something in Greek, and damn me they answered in English. They were English. Gorgeous creatures. Twins.”

“Good Lord. Let me get you another gin.”

I stood at the bar waiting for the drinks and watched myself in the mirror; gave myself the smallest wink.

“ Sygeia . Well you can imagine, I moved in poly fast. Consolidated position. Found out who they were. Old boy’s godchildren up at the villa. Bang out of the top drawer, both been to Roedean, finished in Switzerland. All that. Said they were there for the summer and that the old boy would very much like to meet me, why didn’t I come up for tea. Nuff said. Off we trotted. Meet the old boy. Tea.”

He had the same old habit of stretching his neck up, as if his collar was too tight; to make himself look a man of the world.

“This what’s-his-name spoke English?”

'Perfect. Moved round Europe all his life, best society and all that. Well, actually I found one of the twins a shade off. Not my type. Rather marked the other for my area of ops. Okay, the old man and the not-on twin faded away after tea and this girl, June, that was her name, took me round the property.”

“Nice work.”

“Didn’t actually get round to unarmed combat at that point, but I sort of felt she was ready and willing. You know how it was on the island. Full magazine on and nothing to shoot at.”

“Rather.”

He flexed his arm, caressed the back of his hair. “Right. I trotted off back to the school. Tender farewell. Invitation to dinner the next weekend. Week passes, I present myself over there in my number ones. Other necessary equipment. Drinks for dinner, girls looking smashing. But then.” He gave me a taut, suspenseful look. “Well as a matter of fact the other girl, not June, got stinkers.”

“Christ.”

“I’d got her number the week before. One of these bloody intellectual girls. Pretend to be as tough as nuts, but a couple of gins put 'em out stone cold. Well, it got pretty bloody dicey during dinner. Damned embarrassing. This Julie girl took against me. Didn’t take much notice at first. I thought, well, the girl’s a bit squiffy. Time of the month or something. But… actually she began, well she began to make fun of me in a damn silly sort of way.”

“How?”

“Oh… you know, copied my voice. Way I say things. I suppose she was quite good at it. Damned offensive, all the same.”

“But what was she saying?”

“Oh a load of stupid cock about pacifism and the bomb. You know the type. And I just wasn’t having any.”

“Didn’t the others join in?”

“Hardly said a word. Too damn embarrassed. Well anyway suddenly wham this Julie girl shouted a whole string of really bloody nasty insults. Lost her temper completely. And then all hell broke loose. This other June girl got up and went for her. The old man flapped his hands like a wounded crow. Then the Julie one rushed away. Then her sister. I was left sitting there with the old man. He started talking about them being orphans. Load of guff. Sort of apology.”

“What were these insults she shouted?”