The Concert Read Free

Frédéric insisted were dedicated to Ana. Then came the unexpected twist when it turned out that Ana’s decision to get a divorce had nothing to do with Bermema, whose owe marriage was going through a difficult patch, but was really due to her relationship with Straga, and to their suddee decision to get married as soon as possible. No one ever knew whether, in view of the fact his jealousy had been concentrated for years on Bermema, this lessened Frederic’s fury, or whether his anger at being betrayed was increased by the entrance on the scene of a third man.
    Silva had never tried to get to the bottom of the matter: she preferred it to be forgotten. The aspect of the business that had upset her most, apart from the divorce itself, was the coolness that grew up between Besnik and Skënder. This grieved her not only because she liked and respected them both, but also because they were the people most intimately connected with her sister’s memory.
    Strangely enough, the breach between Besnik and Skënder had opened up when yoe might least have expected it: after Ana’s death. Was her death the cause of the rupture between the two friends? Silva would have thought it quite natural if it had been brought about by Ana herself, or by the break between Besnik and his fiancée, who happened to be the niece of Skënder’s wife. But neither of these theories held water, because Besnik and Skënder had gone on seeing one another after Besnik had broken with Zana, and even after his scandalous liaison with Ana, which had swiftly followed.
    But although it seemed that neither explanation was correct, Silva had a feeling it was no use looking for one elsewhere. After cudgelling her brains for some time she’d come to the conclusion that while neither her sister nor Besnik’s ex-fiancée was responsible separately, together they had been enough to cause the breach between the two men. Skënder’s wife might have put up to some extent with a vague rumour about her husband’s relationship with Ana, just as later on she might have tolerated his seeing Besnik after the latter had quarrelled with her niece. But when the two considerations came together, and Besnik married the woman whose name had long been linked to that of her husband, Skënder’s wife, perhaps understandably, had decided that the pill was too bitter for her to swallow…
    Silva suddenly remembered she’d left her guests to fend for themselves in the living room, but when she got near the door she could hear a lively conversation going on: no one seemed to have noticed her absence. She tiptoed over to the French window opening on to the balcony, beyond which the darkness was now rapidly deepening. The lemon tree brought by the unexpected delivery man from some unknown nursery was there in its tub, spending its first evening in its strange new home…The doorbell interrupted Suva’s meditations: it was Gjergj’s four sisters — the “herd”, as he called them. Three of them were married; the single one was studying medicine.
    The hall was full of voices, arms flailing to get out of coatsleeves, children rushing about with parcels.
    â€œBrr — it’s so cold!” said one of the sisters.
    â€œReally?”
    â€œThere’s been a sudden drop in the temperature. But it’s nice and cosy in here!”
    â€œWhat a shame Gjergfs not here! Couldn’t he put his trip off?”
    â€œNo,” Silva answered. “It wasn’t up to him.”
    â€œOf course not," said the youngest sister. “And the way things are going with China…”
    â€œWon’t you come through?”
    Silva shepherded them into the living room.
    The atmosphere in the flat had all at once become cosy and cheerful Back in the hall, Silva felt like smiling at the sight of all the clothes heaped on to the hall-stand. Some of the children’s fur jackets looked as if they were