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Authors: Jonathan Coe
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held out his hands. Ted laughed, offered the ball teasingly, withdrew it, offered it, withdrew it again and then gave it back. The boy failed to see the joke.
‘Well,’ said Ted, ‘that was a very big kick for such a little boy, wasn’t it?’
Robin looked away in disgust. He noticed that the boy’s father was staring at them. He could not be certain, but he felt that he had seen this man somewhere before.
‘Come on, Jack!’ he called, and the boy ran off.
Ted was still smiling, but his smile froze when he saw the look of wooden indifference on Robin’s face.
‘What’s the matter?’ he said. ‘Don’t you like children?’
‘Not in the way that you do.’
As soon as Robin had said this, Ted assumed such a peculiar expression, so suddenly suspicious and uneasy, that he hastened to add:
‘I mean, not to the same extent.’ He blundered on, ‘I suppose the big difference comes when you have a child of your own, but – I don’t see that happening, to me… For a while.’
‘No,’ said Ted. ‘Nor do I.’
Ted began to feel the imminence of a number of disagreeable emotions: anger, at the frustration of his efforts at reminiscence; distaste, at what he had seen, over the last twenty-four hours, of Robin’s way of life; despair, at the thought of his immediate future; and fear, when he contemplated the differences which lay between them, the murky, unspoken impulses which set Robin apart and which may even have led him to his present impasse. He decided to leave, there and then, before these emotions became too oppressive. It would look odd, but he was under no obligation to behave tactfully. In half an hour he could be back on the M I , heading towards Surrey, and home.
‘Look, Robin, I think I’d better be getting along,’ he said.
‘OK.’
‘If you want to stay here for a while, I can find my own way back to the car.’
‘Fine.’
Ted waited in vain for a gesture, a look, a point of contact.
‘Well, it’s been nice seeing you,’ he said. ‘After all these years.’
Robin smiled.
Ted began to walk away, down the path which leads from the memorial. Turning at the gateway, he gazed at Robin for the last time. He saw a figure huddled, on a warm summer’s evening, at one end of a park bench. Briefly it crossed his mind to wonder what on earth he might be thinking. Then he shook his head and made for the road.
Robin was thinking: ‘Forces would seem to be conspiring against me.’
PART TWO
The Lucky Man
Friday 4th July, 1986
Alun Barnes, LL. B.,
Pardoe & Goddard,
Fourth Floor,
Churchill House,
18 Jeffrey Street,
Coventry .
Mrs E. M. Fitzpatrick,
Frankley, Isham & Waring,
39 Croftwood Road,
Coventry.
2 July 1986
Dear Emma,
Nice to see you at Margaret’s ‘do’ over in Stivichall last Wednesday. I thought she was looking very well. None of us would have believed she was going to get over it so quickly.
I was wondering whether we could get together one of these days and have an informal chat, prior to the second hearing, about Hepburn v. Greene. I think old Mr Hepburn may be about to start making noises about settling out of court, which from both our points of view would be an extremely good thing, I think. I was wondering, in fact, whether you’d like to revive our little tradition of meeting at Port’s on Fridays at lunchtime, just to compare notes?
Anyway, I shall be there on Friday, and I’ll look out for you.
All the best,
Alun
P.S. Apart from anything else, I’ve acquired some new evidence in the Grant case which I think it might be in your interest to hear about. Do try to come if you can make it.
∗
Emma laid the letter down and made a brief effort at being intrigued. The thing was, it was probably just Alun playing games again, and she had enough of that to cope with from her husband at home, at the moment. The sounds of Alison making another pot of coffee from the office kitchen seemed unusually distracting. A couple of weeks ago she would have
‘Well,’ said Ted, ‘that was a very big kick for such a little boy, wasn’t it?’
Robin looked away in disgust. He noticed that the boy’s father was staring at them. He could not be certain, but he felt that he had seen this man somewhere before.
‘Come on, Jack!’ he called, and the boy ran off.
Ted was still smiling, but his smile froze when he saw the look of wooden indifference on Robin’s face.
‘What’s the matter?’ he said. ‘Don’t you like children?’
‘Not in the way that you do.’
As soon as Robin had said this, Ted assumed such a peculiar expression, so suddenly suspicious and uneasy, that he hastened to add:
‘I mean, not to the same extent.’ He blundered on, ‘I suppose the big difference comes when you have a child of your own, but – I don’t see that happening, to me… For a while.’
‘No,’ said Ted. ‘Nor do I.’
Ted began to feel the imminence of a number of disagreeable emotions: anger, at the frustration of his efforts at reminiscence; distaste, at what he had seen, over the last twenty-four hours, of Robin’s way of life; despair, at the thought of his immediate future; and fear, when he contemplated the differences which lay between them, the murky, unspoken impulses which set Robin apart and which may even have led him to his present impasse. He decided to leave, there and then, before these emotions became too oppressive. It would look odd, but he was under no obligation to behave tactfully. In half an hour he could be back on the M I , heading towards Surrey, and home.
‘Look, Robin, I think I’d better be getting along,’ he said.
‘OK.’
‘If you want to stay here for a while, I can find my own way back to the car.’
‘Fine.’
Ted waited in vain for a gesture, a look, a point of contact.
‘Well, it’s been nice seeing you,’ he said. ‘After all these years.’
Robin smiled.
Ted began to walk away, down the path which leads from the memorial. Turning at the gateway, he gazed at Robin for the last time. He saw a figure huddled, on a warm summer’s evening, at one end of a park bench. Briefly it crossed his mind to wonder what on earth he might be thinking. Then he shook his head and made for the road.
Robin was thinking: ‘Forces would seem to be conspiring against me.’
PART TWO
The Lucky Man
Friday 4th July, 1986
Alun Barnes, LL. B.,
Pardoe & Goddard,
Fourth Floor,
Churchill House,
18 Jeffrey Street,
Coventry .
Mrs E. M. Fitzpatrick,
Frankley, Isham & Waring,
39 Croftwood Road,
Coventry.
2 July 1986
Dear Emma,
Nice to see you at Margaret’s ‘do’ over in Stivichall last Wednesday. I thought she was looking very well. None of us would have believed she was going to get over it so quickly.
I was wondering whether we could get together one of these days and have an informal chat, prior to the second hearing, about Hepburn v. Greene. I think old Mr Hepburn may be about to start making noises about settling out of court, which from both our points of view would be an extremely good thing, I think. I was wondering, in fact, whether you’d like to revive our little tradition of meeting at Port’s on Fridays at lunchtime, just to compare notes?
Anyway, I shall be there on Friday, and I’ll look out for you.
All the best,
Alun
P.S. Apart from anything else, I’ve acquired some new evidence in the Grant case which I think it might be in your interest to hear about. Do try to come if you can make it.
∗
Emma laid the letter down and made a brief effort at being intrigued. The thing was, it was probably just Alun playing games again, and she had enough of that to cope with from her husband at home, at the moment. The sounds of Alison making another pot of coffee from the office kitchen seemed unusually distracting. A couple of weeks ago she would have
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