第44章
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  Atfourshe。WinsomelysheonBloohimwhomsmiled。Bloosmiquigo。Ternoon。

  Thinkyou’retheonlypebbleonthebeach?Doesthattoall。Formen。

  Indrowsysilencegoldbentonherpage。

  Fromthesaloonacallcame,longindying。Thatwasatuningforkthetunerhadthatheforgotthathenowstruck。Acallagain。Thathenowpoisedthatitnowthrobbed。Youhear?Itthrobbed,pure,purer,softlyandsoftlier,itsbuzzingprongs。Longerindyingcall。

  Patpaidfordiner’spopcorkedbottle:andovertumblertrayandpopcorkedbottleerehewenthewhispered,baldandbothered,withMissDouce。

  Thebrightstarsfade……

  Avoicelesssongsangfromwithin,singing:……themornisbreaking。

  Aduodeneofbirdnoteschirrupedbrighttrebleanswerundersensitivehands。Brightlythekeys,alltwinkling,linked,allharpsichording,calledtoavoicetosingthestrainofdewymorn,ofyouth,oflove’sleavetaking,life’s,love’smorn。

  Thedewdropspearl……

  Lenehan’slipsoverthecounterlispedalowwhistleofdecoy。

  Butlookthisway,hesaid,roseofCastille。

  Jinglejauntedbythecurbandstopped。

  Sheroseandclosedherreading,roseofCastille。Frettedforlorn,dreamilyrose。

  Didshefallorwasshepushed?heaskedher。

  Sheanswered,slighting:

  Asknoquestionsandyou’llhearnolies。

  Likelady,ladylike。

  BlazesBoylan’ssmarttanshoescreakedonthebarfloorwherehestrode。

  Yes,goldfromanearbybronzefromafar。Lenehanheardandknewandhailedhim:

  Seetheconqueringherocomes。

  Betweenthecarandwindow,warilywalking,wentBloom,unconqueredhero。Seemehemight。Theseathesaton:warm。BlackwaryhecatwalkedtowardsRichieGoulding’slegalbag,liftedaloftsaluting。

  AndIfromthee……

  Iheardyouwereround,saidBlazesBoylan。

  HetouchedtofairMissKennedyarimofhisslantedstraw。Shesmiledonhim。Butsisterbronzeoutsmiledher,preeningforhimherricherhair,abosomandarose。

  Boylanbespokepotions。

  What’syourcry?Glassofbitter?Glassofbitter,please,andasloeginforme。Wireinyet?

  Notyet。Atfourhe。Allsaidfour。

  Cowley’sredlugsandAdam’sappleinthedoorofthesheriff’soffice。

  Avoid。Gouldingachance。WhatishedoingintheOrmond?Carwaiting。

  Wait。

  Hello。Whereoffto?Somethingtoeat?Itoowasjust。Inhere。What,Ormond?BestvalueinDublin。Isthatso?Diningroom。Sittightthere。

  See,notbeseen。IthinkI’lljoinyou。Comeon。Richieledon。Bloomfollowedbag。Dinnerfitforaprince。

  MissDoucereachedhightotakeaflagon,stretchinghersatinarm,herbust,thatallbutburst,sohigh。

  O!O!jerkedLenehan,gaspingateachstretch。O!

  Buteasilysheseizedherpreyandleditlowintriumph。

  Whydon’tyougrow?askedBlazesBoylan。

  Shebronze,dealingfromherjarthicksyrupyliquorforhislips,lookedasitflowedflowerinhiscoat:whogavehim?,andsyruppedwithhervoice:

  Finegoodsinsmallparcels。

  Thatistosayshe。Neatlyshepouredslowsyrupysloe。

  Here’sfortune,Blazessaid。

  Hepitchedabroadcoindown。Coinrang。

  Holdon,saidLenehan,tillI……

  Fortune,hewished,liftinghisbubbledale。

  Sceptrewillwininacanter,hesaid。

  Iplungedabit,saidBoylanwinkinganddrinking。Notonmyown,youknow。Fancyofafriendofmine。

  LenehanstilldrankandgrinnedathistiltedaleandatMissDouce’slipsthatallbuthummed,notshut,theoceansongherlipshadtrilled。

  Idolores。Theeasternseas。

  Clockwhirred。MissKennedypassedtheirwayflower,wonderwhogave,bearingawayteatray。Clockclacked。

  MissDoucetookBoylan’scoin,struckboldlythecashregister。Itclanged。

  Clockclacked。FaironeofEgyptteasedandsortedinthetillandhummedandhandedcoinsinchange。Looktothewest。Aclack。Forme。

  Whattimeisthat?askedBlazesBoylan。Four?

  O’clock。

  Lenehan,smalleyesahungeronherhumming,bustahumming,tuggedBlazesBoylan’selbowsleeve。

  Let’shearthetime,hesaid。

  ThebagofGoulding,Collis,WardledBloombyryebloomfloweredtables。

  Aimlesshechosewithagitatedaim,baldPatattending,atablenearthedoor。Benear。Atfour。Hasheforgotten?Perhapsatrick。Notcome:whetappetite。Icouldn’tdo。Wait,wait。Pat,waiter,waited。

  SparklingbronzeazureeyedBlazure’sskybluebowandeyes。

  Goon,pressedLenehan。There’sno-one。Heneverheard……toFlora’slipsdidhie。

  High,ahighnote,pealedinthetreble,clear。

  Bronzedouce,communingwithherrosethatsankandrose,soughtBlazesBoylan’sflowerandeyes。

  Please,please。

  Hepleadedoverreturningphrasesofavowal。

  Icouldnotleavethee……

  Afterwits,MissDoucepromisedcoyly。

  No,now,urgedLenehan。Sonnezlacloche!Odo!There’sno-one。

  Shelooked。Quick。MissKennoutofearshot。Suddenbent。Twokindlingfaceswatchedherbend。

  Quaveringthechordsstrayedfromtheair,founditagain,lostchord,andlostandfounditfaltering。

  Goon!Do!Sonnez!

  Bending,shenippedapeakofskirtaboveherknee。Delayed。Tauntedthemstill,bending,suspending,withwilfuleyes。

  Sonnez!

  Smack。Sheletfreesuddeninreboundhernippedelasticgartersmackwarmagainsthersmackablewoman’swarmhosedthigh。

  Lacloche!criedgleefulLenehan。Trainedbyowner。Nosawdustthere。

  Shesmilesmirkedsuperciliouswept!aren’tmen?,but,lightwardgliding,mildshesmiledonBoylan。

  You’retheessenceofvulgarity,sheinglidingsaid。

  Boyland,eyed,eyed。Tossedtofatlipshischalice,drankoffhistinychalice,suckingthelastfatvioletsyrupydrops。Hespellboundeyeswentafterherglidingheadasitwentdownthebarbymirrors,gildedarchforgingerale,hockandclaretglassesshimmering,aspikyshell,whereitconcerted,mirrored,bronzewithsunnierbronze。

  Yes,bronzefromanearby……Sweetheart,goodbye!

  I’moff,saidBoylanwithimpatience。

  Heslidhischalicebriskaway,graspedhischange。

  Waitashake,beggedLenehan,drinkingquickly。Iwantedtotellyou。TomRochford……

  Comeontoblazes,saidBlazesBoylan,going。

  Lenehangulpedtogo。

  Gotthehornorwhat?hesaid。Wait。I’mcoming。

  Hefollowedthehastycreakingshoesbutstoodbynimblybythethreshold,salutingforms,abulkywithaslender。

  HowdoyoudoMrDollard?

  Eh?Howdo?Howdo?BenDollard’svaguebassanswered,turninganinstantfromFatherCowley’swoe。Hewon’tgiveyouanytrouble,Bob。AllBerganwillspeaktothelongfellow。We’llputabarleystrawinthatJudasIscariot’searthistime。

  Sighing,MrDedaluscamethroughthesaloon,afingersoothinganeyelid。

  Hoho,wewill,BenDollardyodledjollily。Comeon,Simon,giveusaditty。Weheardthepiano。

  BaldPat,botheredwaiter,waitedfordrinkorders,PowerforRichie。

  AndBloom?Letmesee。Notmakehimwalktwice。Hiscorns。Fournow。Howwarmthisblackis。Coursenervesabit。Refractsisit?heat。Letmesee。Cider。Yes,bottleofcider。

  What’sthat?MrDedalussaid。Iwasonlyvamping,man。

  Comeon,comeon,BenDollarcalled。Begone,dullcare。Come,Bob。

  HeambledDollard,bulkyslops,beforethemholdthatfellowwiththe:

  holdhimnowintothesaloon。HeplumpedhimDollardonthestool。Hisgoutypawsplumpedchords。Plumpedstoppedabrupt。

  BaldPatinthedoorwaymettealessgoldreturning。BotheredhewantedPowerandcider。Bronzebythewindowwatched,bronzefromafar。

  Jingleatinklejaunted。

  Bloomheardajing,alittlesound。He’soff。LightsobofbreathBloomsighedonthesilentbluehuedflowers。Jingling。He’sgone。Jingle。Hear。

  Loveandwar,Ben,MrDedalussaid。Godbewitholdtimes。

  MissDouce’sbraveeyes,unregarded,turnedfromthecrossblind,smittenbysunlight。Gone。Pensivewhoknows?,smittenthesmitinglight,sheloweredthedropblindwithaslidingcord。ShedrewdownpensivewhydidhegosoquickwhenI?aboutherbronzeoverthebarwherebaldstoodbysistergold,inexquisitecontrast,contrastinexquisitenonexquisite,slowcooldimseagreenslidingdepthofshadow,eaudeNil。

  PooroldGoodwinwasthepianistthatnight,FatherCowleyremindedthem。TherewasaslightdifferenceofopinionbetweenhimselfandtheCollardgrand。

  Therewas。

  Asymposiumallhisown,MrDedalussaid。Thedevilwouldn’tstophim。Hewasacrotchetyoldfellowintheprimarystageofdrink。

  God,doyouremember?BenbulkyDollardsaid,turningfromthepunishedkeyboard。AndbyJapersIhadnoweddinggarment。

  Theylaughedallthree。Hehadnowed。Alltriolaughed。Noweddinggarment。

  OurfriendBloomturnedinhandythatnight,MrDedalussaid。Where’smypipebytheway?

  Hewanderedbacktothebartothelostchordpipe。BaldPatcarriedtwodiners’drinks,RichieandPoldy。AndFatherCowleylaughedagain。

  Isavedthesituation,Ben,Ithink。

  Youdid,averredBenDollard。Irememberthosetighttrouserstoo。

  Thatwasabrilliantidea,Bob。

  FatherCowleyblushedtohisbrilliantpurplylobes。Hesavedthesitua。

  Tighttrou。Brilliantide。

  Iknewhewasontherocks,hesaid。ThewifewasplayingthepianointhecoffeepalaceonSaturdaysforaverytriflingconsiderationandwhowasitgavemethewheezeshewasdoingtheotherbusiness?Doyouremember?WehadtosearchallHollesstreettofindthemtillthechapinKeogh’sgaveusthenumber。Remember?

  Benremembered,hisbroadvisagewondering。

  ByGodshehadsomeluxuriousoperacloaksandthingsthere。

  MrDedaluswanderedback,pipeinhand。

  Merrionsquarestyle。Balldresses,byGod,andcourtdresses。Hewouldn’ttakeanymoneyeither。What?AnyGod’squantityofcockedhatsandbolerosandtrunkhose。What?

  Ay,ay,MrDedalusnodded。MrsMarionBloomhasleftoffclothesofalldescriptions。

  Jinglehaunteddownthequays。Blazessprawledonboundingtyres。

  Liverandbacon。Steakandkidneypie。Right,sir。Right,Pat。

  MrsMarionmethimpikehoses。SmellofburnofPauldeKock。Nicenamehe。

  What’sthishernamewas?Abuxomlassy。Marion。

  Tweedy。

  Yes。Isshealive?

  Andkicking。

  Shewasadaughterof……

  Daughteroftheregiment。

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