The Meddlers Read Free Page A

replaced. Scrag end of mutton for weeks.” She kissed Ian warmly. “You’ll get the job, darling—I’m sure you will. But I wish you’d have some breakfast before you go.”
    “No, thanks, dolly-chops,” Ian said and rumpled her hair. “But pop a poulet in the pot for me, and I’ll be back for lunch. And keep your chin up. I’ll be here by one, I promise.” And he raised his own chin at George and went out, slamming the door behind him.
    There was silence for a moment after the front door too slammed, and then George said carefully, “I would prefer you not to discuss our disagreements with the children. You know that.”
    “I didn’t discuss. I simply mentioned it. Anyway, I don’t see why I shouldn’t talk to my own son if I choose. I have to talk to someone. And
we’re
very close.” And she placed the emphasis delicately but unmistakably.
    But this was no time to complicate things by being sidetracked by Ian. George looked swiftly at his wristwatch as she turned away, and then leaned back in his chair.
    “Marjorie, you were about to tell me why this project annoys you more than any other project ever has. I’d like to know.”
    I’ve got to know, he thought. The adoption shouldn’t affect her, they shouldn’t take her into account, but Kegan thinks they might want her token agreement, so I’ve got to handle this right. Oh,God, why did I have to forget her wretched dinner party last night of all times?
    “I told you. It doesn’t.”
    “But I suspect it does. And that makes me rather unhappy.”
    “Why?” She shot a sharp look at him. “Maybe I should be asking what’s so extra important about it to you.”
    How can a woman who is so intelligent be so often stupid? George thought suddenly. Or is it intelligence? Is there such a thing as intuition? I’ve never believed it, but sometimes she makes such leaps of comprehension…
    He pulled his mind back. “You know why. Because it will be my definitive work. Because if I find the answers I’m seeking, it should be worth—oh, an inestimable amount. Its application could—I think I can say it might revolutionize life by the end of this century. You know that.”
    “And it might get you your Nobel, you’ll take your place in scientific history alongside the Curies and Rutherford and the rest of them. I’ve heard all that before! But is that all?”
    “It’s a pretty big all.”
    “It’s a pretty big might. When I used to get all excited about the projects you got involved with years ago, you used to slap me down with that. Told me I was jumping to conclusions and weaving fantasies and all the rest of it. And now you’re doing it. Now I wonder why?”
    She seemed to have completely forgotten her anger over the dinner party, which was one comfort. But she was being a little too shrewd for real comfort. If he didn’t get this across to her properly and she chose to be obstructive she could make so many complications that the very project could be damaged. He spoke particularly carefully.
    “This time I’m onto a… a big thing. I’ve been working towards it from the start. I can see that now, even though I had no idea at the beginning where it might all lead me. This one is—it involves so many factors, you see.”
    He stopped, a little helplessly. “I hardly know where to begin. I’ve told you something of the plan—”
    “As much as you thought I could cope with. Not a lot.”
    “It was nothing to do with whether you could cope or not. It was just that I dislike going off half-cocked, talking too much about a project before I can see where it’s leading.”
    “Yet now, all of a sudden, you want to know why I think it’s so important. That’s what you mean when you say it annoys me, isn’t it? You think the things that are important to you annoy me the way the things that matter to me annoy
you
. You’re—what’s the word?—extrapolating. That’s it. You’re extrapolating from your own feelings to mine. If I needed any