The Concert Read Free Page A

riding piggyback on the grown-ups’ overcoats; Silva took them down and put them on a divan in her daughter’s room.
    Then she went and inspected the table in the dining room. The quiet brilliance of the glass and silver seemed very remote from the commotion that had invaded the rest of the flat. The children had already established a route for chasing one another about, from the living room through the hall to Brikena’s bedroom and back. Conversation in the main room was now so lively there was no longer much danger that the little party would fall flat. Silva, standing in the doorway, noticed that her brother was the only one not joining in. She drew up a stool and sat down beside him.
    â€œIs something the matter, Arian?” she asked gently. “You look rather out of sorts.”
    â€œNo, Silva - I’m ail right.”
    From close to he looked quite drawn.
    â€œWhat do you mean, you’re all right? I can see something is wrong.”
    He smiled up at her with a look of sadness tinged with surprise, as if to say, “Since when have you started bothering about me?” Silva fett an almost physical twinge of conscience. She could see he was now in real trouble, though in the past the perpetual personal problems and dramas of his two sisters had seemed to deny him the right to any worries of his own.
    Then Silva was called to the telephone.
    She heaved a sigh of relief when everyone was sitting down at the table and the continuous clatter of knives and forks showed that the meal was well begun. She realized she was sitting next to Arian. Perhaps she oughtn’t to press him any more about why he looked so glum, Besides, by now she was beginning to wonder whether that wasn’t his usual expression: didn’t men have plenty of reasons for feeling fed up? She would probably have let the matter drop this was supposed to be a party, after all - if out of the corner of her eye she hadn’t noticed her brother down two glasses of raki one after the other without stopping for breath. This was very unusual for him - not so much the actual drinking as the way he threw back his head after emptying his glass, and even more the way he set the glass down again on the table. His whole attitude suggested he had made up his mied about something and was prepared to take the consequences, whatever they might be!
    â€œHave you got something on your mind?”’ Silva whispered.
    â€œWhat if I have, little sister?” he answered calmly, “Even if I had a real problem, you wouldn’t expect me to tell you about it in the middle of ae occasion like this, would you?”
    Silva was put out not so much by his answer as by the sardonic gleam in his eye. Such a mixture of annoyance and sarcasm can be hurtful even if it isn’t directed against you…
    â€œAnd why not?”
    Now that he wasn’t actually looking at her she could feel all the more clearly how vexed he was.
    What in the world could have happened to him? she wondered with another pang of conscience: did her brother have to be threatened by serious misfortune for her to act as if he really existed?
    â€œI don’t want to bother you with my troubles," he said at last. “It’s something I haven’t told anybody.”
    Silva looked swiftly at his wife who was laughing and clinking glasses with Gjergj’s youngest sister: was it something to do with her? She studied her for a moment. Yes, of course she thought. He’s jealous, though she probably doesn’t suspect it. Otherwise, how was it she didn’t seem at all bothered by her husband’s sulks?
    â€œIt hasn’t got anything to do with Sonia, has it?” asked Silva, for some reason regretting her question as soon as she’d asked it.
    â€œSonia!” exclaimed her brother in amazement. “What an idea!”
    So it must be something different, something more serious, she thought. She was surprised at herself for