Read Online A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin - Free Book Online Page A

anything about her, nor had anyone come back afterwards to tell him of the mistake.
    “Well, this other person must have your bag,” said Katherine when they were outside. “What a bother. I’d better have some lunch, and go and call on her. Then I’ll give it back to you.”
    Miss Green was fretful. “I wish it hadn’t happened … there were keys … if they aren’t honest——”
    “It’s my fault, I know.” Katherine wanted to get away from this doorway. “I’m terribly sorry, I am really.”
    “And I’ve no money or anything——”
    She opened her own bag. “How much do you want?”
    “Well, Miss Lind, I owe you ten shillings already, for the dentist——”
    “Yes, that will do any time. Will half-a-crown be enough?”
    “Oh, yes, but—” Miss Green looked timidly from the coin to Katherine. “Could you give it me in change, do you think? They’re so rude on the buses, nowadays, if you haven’t the right money.”
    “I’ve no change——” Katherine hurried back into the shop, growing more desperate. She came out again with some coppers and sixpences, and also a bottle of mouthwash tablets she had bought to avoid asking the chemist for nothing but change. “Will that do? And I bought these for you, in case you haven’t any at home.”
    “Oh—” Miss Green looked too bewildered to be gracious . “I’ll pay you back——”
    They moved up the street together.
    “Are you sure you’ll be able to get home all right?” asked Katherine, with more compunction now they were away from her address. “Shall I come with you?”
    “Oh, I can manage.” Miss Green achieved an almost friendly smile, touching her mauve scarf.
    “And you will go home and rest? I think you ought to.”
    “Well, I feel I should,” said Miss Green pitifully. “But don’t you think I ought to go back to work? I’ve missed a whole morning——”
    “Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Katherine. “I’ll tell them how ill you’ve been. There won’t be any trouble.” She smiled. “Go back home and lie down, or sit by the fire. And keep your mouth shut, you don’t want to catch a cold in your mouth.”
    “Well——” Miss Green still seemed indecisive.
    “There’s no point in working this afternoon if you’re going to be away on Monday, is there?”
    “No.” They stopped on the corner. “Well, I think I will, then. I’ll go now.”
    “I’ll see you on Monday.”
    “Thank you for—for the milk,” said Miss Green confusedly . “I hope you get the bag back.”
    “I will.”
    They parted, Miss Green going off in one direction to the bus-stop, her pink nose high in the air. She was soon lost in the crowd. Katherine walked slowly the other way, her hands in her pockets, wondering if she could possibly be mistaken in thinking that the address on the letter in the strange handbag she was carrying had been written by Mr. Anstey.

1
    The morning when she came to England for the first time had been still and hot: not an accidental fine day, but one of a series that had already lasted a week. Each had seemed more flawless than the one before it, as if in their slow gathering of depth and placidity they were progressing towards perfection. The sky was deep blue as if made richer by the endless recession of past summers: the sea smooth, and when a wave lifted the sun shone through it as through a transparent green window. She walked to and fro across the sharp shadows on the deck, noticing how the deck and all the ropes had been drenched in sea-water and then whitened in the sun.
    It was incredible that she should be there at all. Walking on the deck that morning was a direct result of a day she could hardly remember, when they had all filled up their application-forms with much giggling and speculation . It seemed absurd. It was like taking a ticket in a sweepstake, or drawing a package from a bran-tub; no, it was less pleasant than that: it really was one of the silly things one does in company