The Madness Of Love | The Secret History

XXVIII

Two nights later, I was woken again by a knock at my door. Confused, in a foul temper, I switched on the lamp and reached for my watch. It was three o'clock. "Who's there?" I said. "Henry." came the surprising reply.

I let him in. Surprisingly, he was without Lilith. He didn't sit down. "Listen," he said. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I have a favor to ask you."
"Where's Lilith?" I said. Henry raised his eyebrows. "Sleeping."

I sat on the edge of my bed. "What is it?" I said. "About fifteen minutes ago I got a call from the police. Charles is in jail. He has been arrested for drunk driving. I want you to go down and get him."

"What?" I said.
"He was driving my car. They got my name from the registration sticker." he reached into his pocket and handed me an unsealed envelope. Inside was a check with Henry's signature and a twenty-dollar bill.

"What about the money?" I said at last.
"Pay them whatever it costs."
"I mean this twenty dollars."
"You'll have to take a taxi. I took one over here, it's waiting downstairs."

--------------------

The jail, in Hampden town, was in an annex of the courthouse. I told the taxi driver to wait and went inside. Two policemen were sitting in a large, well-lit room.

"Hi," I said. They looked up.
"I came to see about getting my friend out of jail. Charles Macaulay."
"You're not the guy I talked to on the phone." said one of the policemen. "Is that your car out there?"

I explained. They ate their chicken and listened.
"Well, you know, we can't let you have the car." said the policeman with the red moustache.
"I don't care about the car." I said. "I just want to get my friend out of jail."

The policemen told me, that even with the money I can't bail him out now, I'll have to come back at nine o'clock. There was nothing more to say, so I thanked them and left.

When I got outside the cab was gone. I still had fifteen dollars, but I didn't want to go back to the police station to call a cab. So I walked down the main street to the Greyhound bus station. The terminal was closed. I sat outside waiting for it to open so I could use the phone.

The clerk came to unlock the place at six. I went to the phone booth and dialed Henry's number, to my surprise he didn't answer, instead, Lilith did.

"Where are you, Richard?" she said, concerned. "What's the matter?"
A bit confused, I explained what had happened. Ominous silence on the other end.

"Look," said Lilith, her voice quiet and tired. "why don't you talk to Henry? Wait a minute, I'll pass him the phone."
I waited.

"Hello," I heard Henry's voice.
"Henry, look," I said. "he's going before the judge at nine. Why don't you meet me at the courthouse."
He didn't answer for a moment. "It's best if you handle it. I'm afraid I'm the last person Charles wants to see, we quarreled last night."

Silence.
"I'm not asking that much of you." he said.
Only that I do what you tell me, I thought as I hung up the telephone and went to bail Charles out.

---------------------

Late that afternoon I went to visit Francis.
"Come in, come in," he said, waving me in frenetically. His Greek books were spread out on the desk, and, surprisingly, Lilith was laying on the sofa with a cigarette in her hand and one more burning in the ashtray.

"Hello." I said, a bit unfriendly, though I didn't even know where that came from. She glanced at me. "Hello, Richard. It's nice to see you."
Yeah, right, I thought, but didn't say anything.

Francis didn't pay any attention to us. "What happened last night?" he asked. "Was Charles arrested? Henry wouldn't tell me a thing. I got part of the story from Lilith, but she doesn't know all the details."

It was always fun to tell Francis a story. He leaned forward and hung on every word, reacting at appropriate intervals with astonishment.

As I finished and Lilith was lighting her fifth cigarette, Francis also reached for another one.
"The way you smoke," I said, "no wonder you're short of breath." Lilith scoffed. "That has nothing to do with it," she said irritably, tamping the cigarette on the back of her wrist. "That's just what these stupid Vermonters tell you. Stop smoking, cut out alcohol and coffee."

She paused for a minute and Francis continued. "I've been smoking half my life. You think I don't know how it affects me? You don't ge these nasty pains from a few cigarettes or drinks. Besides, I have all the other symptoms."

Without warning I had a vision of Francis, Lilith, and me - sitting around in some smoky room, the three of us repeating this exchange for the thousandth time. At one time I had liked this idea, I was fond of them both and this act had bound us together.

This thought had been my only comfort in the aftermath of Bunny's death. Now it made me sick, knowing there was no way out. I was stuck with them, all of them, for good.

I don't think Camilla will be in this book a lot from now on, so don't be surprised.
Not proofread.
Love you x