Three to See the King Read Free Page A

held the door open with one hand, and shook mine with the other. At the same time I remembered a feature of his house that I could never quite understand. For some reason he had the door opening outwards, which seemed to me a most inconvenient arrangement. It meant he had to reach right round the outside to close it whenever it was hooked open, or else there was a risk of it slamming shut when it wasn’t. Much better, surely, to have the door swinging into the house. Then it could be open and closed with ease, and the flow of air regulated as required. Simon’s insistence on having an outward-opening door only served to substantiate my judgement that he just wanted to be different from everyone else. To be fair on him, though, he was always a most genial host. As soon as we were inside he had me sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of me.
    ‘Well, well,’ he kept saying. ‘Lovely to see you. Lovely to see you!’
    As a gift for Simon I’d brought along a set of wind chimes, and I now presented them to him formally.
    ‘You could hang them up beside your bell,’ I suggested. To keep it company.’
    ‘Thank you,’ he replied. ‘Yes, excellent idea.’
    ‘Speaking of which,’ I continued. ‘Did you know I had a guest?’
    ‘At your house of tin?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Of course.’
    ‘Sorry for asking, but… it’s just that I rarely have visitors here … and … well … who is it?’
    ‘This woman I know.’
    ‘A woman?’ Instantly he sprang to his feet, went to the nearest shutter and looked out. ‘Is she there now?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But you can’t see her from here.’
    ‘Well, you must bring her over!’
    ‘Why don’t you come to mine instead? You can keep her company.’
    ‘Alright, I will, yes.’
    He had a bag packed within minutes. Then he closed down the stove so that it would go out of its own accord, fastened down all the shutters and lowered his flag. Soon after that we were on our way back to my house. Most of the journey he didn’t speak at all, which was unlike him, but as we got nearer he finally broke his silence.
    ‘By the way,’ he asked. ‘What’s your guest’s name?’
    ‘Mary Petrie,’ I said. ‘Do you know her?’
    ‘No, no,’ he replied. ‘I don’t know any women.’
    The instant we went through the door I remembered I hadn’t told her I was bringing someone back with me. She was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down on us.
    This is Simon Painter,’ I explained. The person I went to see this morning.’
    ‘He’s got an overnight bag,’ she replied.
    ‘Yes, he’s come to stay for a while.’
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Simon.
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ she answered, without looking at him.
    At this moment Simon displayed a flair for diplomacy which I didn’t know he had, and stepped outside again.
    ‘Oh marvellous view!’ we could hear him saying. ‘Absolutely marvellous.’
    I advanced halfway up the stairs towards Mary Petrie.
    ‘What’s he doing here?’ she asked.
    ‘He’s come to keep you company.’
    ‘What for?’
    ‘You said you didn’t want to be here on your own.’
    ‘That wasn’t what I meant.’
    ‘Wasn’t it?’
    ‘Of course not.’
    ‘Well, what did you mean then?’
    She looked at me for a long time. The expression on her face did not change, but at last I understood.
    4
    I tell you, I was up those stairs in two strides! For the next half minute or so I forgot about the sublime and esoteric pleasures of living in a house of tin! I forgot about the wind that blasts across the plain all night and day. And I forgot about Simon Painter, waiting at a discreet distance outside the door.
    Mary Petrie, however, had not forgotten him.
    ‘That’ll do for now,’ she murmured in my ear. ‘You’ll just have to wait until he’s gone.’
    ‘OK,’ I said. ‘I’ll get rid of him.’
    This was easier said than done. When I got downstairs and saw Simon standing there with his