Cards of Identity Read Online Free PDF

likeable lad,’ he answered slowly, pride and disappointment mixing in his eyes.
    ‘So thoughtful, so kind.’
    ‘You find him so?’ asked the captain, bending on her a look of deep interest. ‘One so easily forgets that one’s children’s manners improve in proportion to the distance they are from their homes. I imagine that in our daily life, particularly when we are young, the recurrence of the same problems, the same routine and habits, causes us to show impatience, even rudeness, to those we love. We who are more mature expect, and consequently demur to, the daily frictions of domestic life. Do you not find it so?’
    ‘Indeed I do. My brother and I always rub along.’
    ‘Exactly; that is just the phrase. And, consequently, of course, we easily mistake youthful vitality for bad manners – though, I must say, the two characteristics are often hard to distinguish.’ He added, after a pause: ‘The boy has lost his mother.’
    ‘You have done wonders without her,’ said Miss Paradise, unable to resist another quick look round the splendid room.
    ‘Thank you. And yet, he needs more than either I or his excellent stepmother can provide. An overwhelming love; something all-embracingand tender: if I could find it for him, in one form or another, I would welcome it with open arms. However, I shall tell Beaufort that at least one discerning person has shown approval of him.’
    They exchanged warm, understanding looks, as befits people who are sharing an excursion into the deeper elements of living. Indeed, Miss Paradise was by now wishing that this lovely, old-fashioned chat could drag on interminably – that at nightfall a butler would enter and draw-to the heavy curtains, shutting both her everyday self and the outside world out of existence. At that moment the captain bent forward and felt her pulse again. ‘Our little moment of distraction has done you good, I think,’ he said, as if he had cleverly planned the whole direction of their conversation. ‘The police must, of couse, be informed, but perhaps are you now in a state to give me a few details about your brother. Meanwhile, a little tea would soothe both of us, I think,’ and he pressed a bell. ‘Is he a tall man?’
    ‘Oh no: quite short. Not a dwarf, of course.’
    ‘Ah. Not a dwarf. And dressed, you say, in riding-clothes? A horse?’
    ‘Not actually with him, no.’
    ‘He could not have fallen off it?’
    ‘Impossible.’
    ‘Ah. Clean-shaven?’
    ‘To a large extent. There is a moustache, but he keeps it cut so flat and allows it so little spread that it is easily overlooked.’
    ‘Ah. Now, what about moles or birthmarks?’
    ‘No birthmarks and few moles – not where a stranger would notice them, anyway.’
    ‘Ah, well. We can pursue that point later should any question of identity arise. Ah … What kind of manner, may I ask? Vigorous? Apathetical? Nondescript?’
    ‘Both vigorous and nondescript, I would say.’
    ‘I think I know. Friendly? Fond of visiting?’
    ‘He chooses his friends carefully, but once he has done so he sticks very closely to them.’
    ‘Ah. Is he inclined to absence and disappearance? How can I put it without being rude? Do nights pass without him? Is he, shall we say, not always quite there after a convivial evening with friends?’
    ‘Sometimes it has seemed so to me. He is always there, of course, I’m sure; just absent from me.’
    ‘Yes, yes. It is hard to know exactly, isn’t it, who is and who isn’t? Is he by any chance a little free-handed with money?’
    ‘Oh, never that. Never, never.’
    ‘Ah. Inclined rather the other way?’
    ‘Much more.’
    ‘What people who didn’t understand him might call close-fisted? Tell me now, if I am not impertinent, have you on account of this thrifty bent of his ever had differences with him? I find that so many tussles between people who otherwise love each other dearly can be traced to money. It is astonishing when you think of it how much people will