B0040702LQ EBOK Read Online Free PDF

had to
fetch the doctor. In his attempt to sound nonchalant, his voice
came out too high.

    `Put this on.' (He placed his raincoat round the girl's
shoulders.) `Get in.'
    Susana did not reject the offer.
    `Where to?'
    She looked more lost than ever, yet she whispered an
address and the coachman set off. Arturo was beside himself
with joy and fear. No doubt about it, he was a grown-up.
What would his mother say if she could see him now? His
mother who was at that moment waiting for him. He
shrugged. Inside he was trembling. With extreme caution,
very slowly, he took the girl's hand. It was cold, terribly,
horribly cold.
    `Are you feeling chilly?'
    `No.'
    Arturo did not dare slip his arm round the girl's shoulder, as
he would have liked, and felt it was his duty, to do.
    `Your hands are freezing.'
    `They always are.'
    If only he dared hug her, kiss her! He knew he could never
do it. He had to do it. He summoned up all his courage, lifted
his arm and was about to let it fall softly on Susana's farthest
shoulder when, by the passing light of a street lamp, he saw
that she was looking at him, her eyes transparent with fear. In
the face of this appeal, Arturo gave up, happy to do so; he was
content with very little, what had happened would suffice for
several days. Suddenly, Susana spoke to the coachman in her
sweet, deep voice:

    `Please stop.'
    `We're not there yet, miss.'
    `It doesn't matter.'
    `Is this where you live?' asked Arturo.
    `No. A few houses further up, but I don't want to be seen.
Or heard ...'
    She got out quickly. It was still raining. She wrapped herself
in the raincoat as though it now belonged to her.
    `I'll meet you here, tomorrow at six.'
    `No.'
    `Yes, tomorrow'
    She disappeared without answering. Arturo got out and
just managed to catch a glimpse of her going into a doorway.
He congratulated himself on having behaved like a man. No
doubt about it. He was pleased with the authoritative tone of
his last words to her, which he was sure would do the trick.
She would keep the appointment. Moreover, hadn't she taken
his raincoat as a token?
    It was his first truly happy night. He revelled in thoughts of
his prize, you might even say conquest. He had done it all on
his own, with no help from anyone, he had won her by his
own efforts. She would be his girlfriend. A real girlfriend. His
first girlfriend. This was all new to him.
    By half past five on the following day he was pacing the
uneven paving stones of the street. The house was old, small,
just one storey he was pleased to see, for he had worried at
times that there might be several families living there. The
skies had not cleared, thick clouds were racing, and there was a
cruel little breeze. `She'll give me back my raincoat,' he
thought involuntarily. (The previous night his mother could
easily have thought he had hung it up on his way in, but this
evening he had to go home for dinner and would have to
explain the absence of the coat.)
    Six o'clock rang out from St Agueda's. He was still pacing
up and down, though with no hint of impatience. It began to
rain. He took shelter in a doorway opposite the house of his
beloved. Half past six. The wind and the rain gathered force.
He turned up the collar of his jacket. Raindrops pattered gently on the shining cobbles of the deserted street. Seven
o'clock sounded, then, a long time later, half-past. Night had
fallen ages ago. He heard eight o'clock strike. Then he had an
idea: Why not call at the house on the pretext of recovering
his raincoat? What could be more natural, after all?

    No sooner said than done. As fast as his legs would carry
him, he crossed the road and entered the doorway. The
entrance was dark. He knocked on the first door, which he
took to be the main door of the flat. Soft footsteps could be
heard, then the door was opened a few inches. A nice old lady
appeared.
    `What can I do for you?'
    `Well, you see, the thing is ...'
    `Do come in.'
    Arturo