The Careful Use of Compliments Read Online Free PDF Page A

the atmosphere of the Portrait Gallery. Jamie looked at Charlie. The cruelties of the world, its viciousness, seemed so dissonant with the innocence of the child. He returned to kings.
    â€œGeorge IV,” he said. “That was another favourite picture of mine. Ever since I heard that the artist who painted the picture of his arrival in Edinburgh showed him in his kilt but without the pink tights that apparently he wore when he arrived in Scotland.”
    Isabel laughed. “That sounds almost as bad as those Soviet portraits. I saw one in the State Gallery in Moscow years ago. It was a collective portrait of the politburo or some such group. The ones who had been discredited or executed were simply painted out and replaced with large flower arrangements. But the contours of the paint showed that something had been done. Such a bad sign—the appearance of flowers in official portraits.”
    Jamie looked at her quizzically. He was not quite sure how to take remarks like that from Isabel. It was, he said, her Dorothy Parker streak. “But I’d never take a streak from another woman,” Isabel had protested.
    â€œThere you go,” said Jamie.
    But now there was this odd remark about flowers. “Why flowers?” he asked.
    â€œWell,” said Isabel, “look at political broadcasts by presidents and prime ministers. The shaky ones, those one thinks are lying, or at least being economical with the truth—they bedeck the tables behind them with large floral arrangements. I take that as a sure sign that there’s something fishy going on. Flags and flowers. They’re stage props. And soldiers. Being seen talking to the troops is very good for votes.”
    The waitress arrived and they gave their order. Jamie reached across the table and touched Charlie’s arm.
    â€œSo small,” he said. “Like a little doll.”
    Isabel smiled and let her hand touch Jamie’s. He curled his fingers round hers, briefly.
    â€œThank you,” she said quietly.
    â€œThank you for what?”
    â€œFor not going away.”
    He gave a start. “Why should I go away?”
    She nodded in the direction of Charlie. “Not every man stays,” she said. “You might easily have preferred…preferred your freedom.”
    He stared at her. Had she misjudged him that badly? He felt an irritation, a crossness, that she should think that of him. And Isabel, watching him, immediately sensed that.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve offended you. I didn’t mean to. It’s just that…well, you’re younger than I am. You need your freedom. You don’t need to be tied down.”
    Jamie swallowed. He looked about him briefly; the restaurant was busy, as it always was at lunchtime, but in the general hubbub it did not look as if anybody might overhear their conversation. “Of course I wouldn’t make myself scarce,” he said. “I told you that—right at the beginning. I told you when Charlie arrived. I was there, wasn’t I?”
    â€œOf course you were,” said Isabel soothingly. “Please don’t be angry with me. Please.” And she thought, I’m making a mess of this. It’s exactly the same as my relationship with Cat. I make a mess of things by saying things that I don’t need to say.
    Jamie was staring at the table, tracing on its surface an imaginary pattern with a forefinger. He looked up, and Isabel saw that he was flushed. “Jamie,” she said. “Please…”
    He shook his head. “No. I want to say something. I should have said it before. Now I’m going to say it.”
    She held her breath. I shouldn’t have imagined that this would last, she thought; now I’ll find out what I always feared. To have had him, now to lose him; it was inevitable.
    â€œIsabel,” he said. “I’d like you to marry me.” He paused. “I think we should get