The Great Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

well. People get waylaid into the single segment of knowledge.'
    Calder said, 'And why not?' Was a don again, snubbing a cheeky freshman. 'If one has given, devoted, a life, one's energies. Easy to talk of erudition as if it were limiting, pass judgement out of sheer ignorance. I myself would not judge people by their knowledge of Erasmus; but have possibly earned the right to do so.'
    'Erasmus?' The boy's bright eyes resting on Calder. People were listening. 'Erasmus of Rotterdam was born in 1466, not at Rotterdam as one might suppose, but at Gouda. Real name possibly Geert. Studied at Paris, and entered the priesthood with reluctance in the momentous year 1492. In 1499, was welcomed at Oxford. Taught Greek at Cambridge, but wrote mainly in Latin. Died at Basel in 1536, unattended by any priest. Is paradoxically remembered for his translation of the New Testament.'
    Calder grinned. 'Fair enough.' Leith was laughing outright. Benedict, satisfied, was fatigued by his little performance. The young manservant came to stoop over him, and helped him away. The table was disbanding.
    Calder said, 'Well, I'll be blowed.' He would have liked a smoke, a chat. But Leith told him, 'I've been hoping for an hour to look into the garden.'
    Mrs Driscoll, materialising, said, 'We lock up here now. The staff has to clear away.'
    'Closing time in the gardens of the East,' said Calder.
    ★
    Leith started on the path that led down to his quarters, a walk overhung by low, knotty pines angled by weather — for this slope was ultimately exposed, beyond some undulations, to the sea. He saw that Benedict was being helped along ahead of him, and hung back in order not to interfere.
    Melba Driscoll had come after him. 'You've seen our tragedy.'
    Leith said, 'You have a remarkable son.'
    'It's been diagnosed. We've never been sure, but now a specialist in London ...' She said, 'We've been through so much.'
    He said, 'A cruel disease.' He could not hold out against her, but felt disloyal to the boy. Aware of it, the mother nevertheless led with the trump card of her son's affliction.
    'People have no idea. And so hard on his father, who was a champion.' She came close to him, lowering her voice. 'A mother can stand it better. Women are given special strength. We are very strong, Aldred.'
    He disliked, of course, his name on her lips; and she knew it.
    Driscoll came to her side. 'We have to take our medicine. He's seen the best bloke. No stone unturned.' Solemnity was directed at Leith, as people will speak to foreigners with affected formality. 'No expense spared.'
    Conscious of another presence, Leith turned his head in hope of release.
    Melba said, 'Our little girl. Helen, say how-do.' She told Leith, 'You've missed our eldest.'
    Ginger had mentioned, You've been lucky there.
    The girl was quiet, shaking hands.
    He said, 'I was wondering to whom it belonged, this hand.'
    Withdrawing it; and smiling, she touched her bodice.
    Melba would not stand for it. 'You see the likeness. Everyone does.' She meant, To herself.
    'I do, yes. Remarkable.' It might be less surprising that this youngest Driscoll should so resemble her brother than that she should share his unlikeness to the parents. Most striking was the girl's well-being. It was as if, in this child, Benedict had been re-created in radiant health, the hair made glossy, the skin vital, the form sound. With a second try, Nature had pulled it off. The eyes were of the same uncommon clarity, and rounder.
    She fingered the blue buttons.
    He said, 'Like a caricature of a beautiful hand.'
    She might have liked, now, to look at her hand, in order to see it in that light. But the pleasure would keep, and was best enjoyed alone.
    She said, 'I should go. Ben and I are going to read.'
    Barry deplored. 'When I was her age, try to keep me indoors.'
    'Thank you,' she said. The words must have been for Leith. Her voice had that lightness, not quite of childhood, that precedes female experience. Since love, like