Read Online Play to the End by Robert Goddard - Free Book Online

Not some supermarket brand."

    The man makes jokes. Not good jokes. And not often. But any humour's better than none, I suppose. Mine was veering towards the rueful, given that they'd be into the interval at the Theatre Royal by now.

    "I didn't time our appointment to test your seriousness," he continued through a taut smile. "I didn't doubt that you meant to do all you could to help your wife."

    "Why, then?"

    "Well, what happened when I put in an appearance at the Rendezvous this afternoon?"

    "She called me."

    "And what will happen now we've met again?"

    "That remains to be seen."

    "You'll surely let her know the outcome, though?"

    "Yes," I cautiously agreed.

    "To achieve which you'll have let down your fellow actors and aroused the ire of Mr. Leo S. Gauntlett."

    "I'm glad you appreciate that."

    "I do. And so will Mrs. Flood, won't she?" His smile relaxed. "Don't you see? I've increased her obligation to you. I've put her further in your debt. I've made it easier for you to ... win her back."

    "I don't believe it," I said. But I did believe it. Derek Oswin, Brighton's least likely matchmaker, had decided to punish Roger Colborn for scorning his manuscript punish him in every way that he could devise.

    "I mean your wife no harm, Mr. Flood. None at all. But... if you want to let her think I might ... in the interests of spending more time with her ..." He pursed his lips and gazed benignly at me.
    "That's fine by me."

    I sighed and took a sip of cocoa. It was easy to get angry with this man, but hard to stay that way. "Broken marriages aren't so easy to put back together, Derek. They really aren't."

    "You don't know till you try."

    "OK. But look I pointed a finger at him. "From now on, you let me try or not as I see fit. Understood?"

    "Absolutely."

    "You do not interfere."

    "Mrs. Flood won't see me again unless we pass by chance in the street.
    I won't go to the Rendezvous. I won't even walk past Brimmers."

    "I'll hold you to that."

    "Of course."

    "I can get my agent to consider your book. I can also get her to un consider it."

    "I do understand, Mr. Flood."

    "All right. You'd better hand it over."

    He jumped up, suddenly eager. "I ran off a copy for you this afternoon. Hold on while I fetch it."

    He went out and up the stairs. I took another sip of cocoa, then turned round in my chair to inspect the contents of the bookcase, which was just behind me. I recognized my host's Tintin books by their phalanx of narrow red spines. He looked to have the full set. I pulled one out at random The Calculus Affair and opened it at the title page, where, next to a picture of the aforesaid professor pottering down a country lane, a fountain-penned inscription read, To our darling Derek, from Mummy and Daddy, Christmas 1967.

    "Are you a Tintin fan?" The question came from the doorway. I turned to find Derek, photocopied manuscript in hand, staring quizzically at me.

    "No. Just .. ." I closed The Calculus Affair and slid it back amongst the others. "Looking."

    "That's all right." But it didn't sound all right. There was a tightness in his voice. He was still staring, past me now, at the row of books. He plonked the manuscript down on the table, circled round behind my chair and carefully removed The Calculus Affair from the shelf. Then, his tongue protruding through his teeth in concentration, he fingered aside two other books and pushed it into the space between them. "You put it back out of sequence, Mr. Flood," he explained.
    "The

    Calculus Affair is number eighteen."

    "Right. I see."

    "Order matters, don't you think?"

    "Yes. I suppose so. Up to a point."

    "But where does the point properly lie? That's the question."

    "And what's the answer?"

    "We must each find it for ourselves." He stood upright and retraced his steps. "And then we must preserve it. Or, if endangered, defend it."

    "So, this is The Plastic Men' I said, leaning forward to inspect the manuscript, happy indeed to change the subject, given