Happy Ending
On a splintered tree stump in the biggest battlefield in the history of the world, Adam sat down and read a letter from Nina. It had arrived early the day before, but in the intensive fighting which followed he had not had a spare minute in which to open it.
тАЬDearest AdamтБатАФI wonder how you are. It is difficult to know what is happening quite because the papers say such odd things. Van has got a divine job making up all the war news, and he invented a lovely story about you the other day, how youтАЩd saved hundreds of peopleтАЩs lives, and thereтАЩs what they call a popular agitation saying why havenтАЩt you got the V.C., so probably you will have by now, isnтАЩt it amusing?
тАЬGinger and I are very well. Ginger has a job in an office in Whitehall and wears a very grand sort of uniform, and, my dear, IтАЩm going to have a baby, isnтАЩt it too awful? But Ginger has quite made up his mind itтАЩs his, and is as pleased as anything, so thatтАЩs all right. HeтАЩs quite forgiven you about last Christmas, and says anyway youтАЩre doing your bit now, and in war time one lets bygones be bygones.
тАЬDoubting is a hospital, did you know? Papa shows his film to the wounded and they adore it. I saw Mr.┬аBenfleet, and he said how awful it was when one had given all oneтАЩs life in the cause of culture to see everything oneтАЩs stood for swept away, but heтАЩs doing very well with his тАШSword UnsheathedтАЩ series of war poets.
тАЬThereтАЩs a new Government order that we have to sleep in gas masks because of the bombs, but no one does. TheyтАЩve put Archie in prison as an undesirable alien, Ginger saw to that, heтАЩs terrific about spies. IтАЩm sick such a lot because of this baby, but everyone says itтАЩs patriotic to have babies in war time. Why?
тАЬLots of love, my angel, take care of your dear self.
He put it back in its envelope and buttoned it into his breast-pocket. Then he took out a pipe, filled it and began to smoke. The scene all round him was one of unrelieved desolation; a great expanse of mud in which every visible object was burnt or broken. Sounds of firing thundered from beyond the horizon, and somewhere above the grey clouds there were aeroplanes. He had had no sleep for thirty-six hours. It was growing dark.
Presently he became aware of a figure approaching, painfully picking his way among the strands of barbed wire which strayed across the ground like drifting cobweb; a soldier clearly. As he came nearer Adam saw that he was levelling towards him a liquid fire-projector. Adam tightened his fingers about his Huxdane-Halley bomb (for the dissemination of leprosy germs), and in this posture of mutual suspicion they met. Through the dusk Adam recognized the uniform of an English staff officer. He put the bomb back in his pocket and saluted.
The newcomer lowered his liquid-fire projector and raised his gas mask. тАЬYouтАЩre English, are you?тАЭ he said. тАЬCanтАЩt see a thing. Broken my damned monocle.тАЭ
тАЬWhy,тАЭ said Adam. тАЬYouтАЩre the drunk Major.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm not drunk, damn you, sir,тАЭ said the drunk Major, тАЬand, whatтАЩs more, IтАЩm a General. What the deuce are you doing here?тАЭ
тАЬWell,тАЭ said Adam. тАЬIтАЩve lost my platoon.тАЭ
тАЬLost your platoon.тБатАКтБатАж IтАЩve lost my whole bloody division!тАЭ
тАЬIs the battle over, sir?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt know, canтАЩt see a thing. It was going on all right last time I heard of it. My carтАЩs broken down somewhere over there. My driver went out to try and find someone to help and got lost, and I went out to look for him, and now IтАЩve lost the car too. Damn difficult country to find oneтАЩs way about in. No landmarks.тБатАКтБатАж Funny meeting you. I owe you some money.тАЭ
тАЬThirty-five thousand pounds.тАЭ
тАЬThirty-five thousand and five. Looked for you everywhere before this scrap started. I can give you the money now if you like.тАЭ
тАЬThe poundтАЩs not worth much nowadays, is it?тАЭ
тАЬAbout nothing. Still, I may as well give you a cheque. ItтАЩll buy you a couple of drinks and a newspaper. Talking of drinks, IтАЩve got a case of bubbly in the car if we could only find it. Salvaged it out of an R.A.F. mess that got bombed back at H.Q. Wish I could find that car.тАЭ
Eventually they did find it. A Daimler limousine sunk to the axles in mud.
тАЬGet in and sit down,тАЭ said the General hospitably. тАЬIтАЩll turn the light on in a second.тАЭ
Adam climbed in and found that it was not empty. In the corner, crumpled up in a French military greatcoat, was a young woman fast asleep.
тАЬHullo, IтАЩd forgotten all about you,тАЭ said the General. тАЬI picked up this little lady on the road. I canтАЩt introduce you, because I donтАЩt know her name. Wake up, mademoiselle.тАЭ
The girl gave a little cry and opened two startled eyes.
тАЬThatтАЩs all right, little lady, nothing to be scared aboutтБатАФall friends here. Parlez anglais?тАЭ
тАЬSure,тАЭ said the girl.
тАЬWell, what about a spot?тАЭ said the General, peeling the tinfoil from the top of a bottle. тАЬYouтАЩll find some glasses in the locker.тАЭ
The woebegone fragment of womanhood in the corner looked a little less terrified when she saw the wine. She recognized it as the symbol of international good will.
тАЬNow perhaps our fair visitor will tell us her name,тАЭ said the General.
тАЬI dunno,тАЭ she said.
тАЬOh, come, little one, you mustnтАЩt be shy.тАЭ
тАЬI dunno. I been called a lot of things. I was called Chastity once. Then there was a lady at a party, and she sent me to Buenos Aires, and then when the war came she brought me back again, and I was with the soldiers training at Salisbury Plain. That was swell. They called me bunnyтБатАФI donтАЩt know why. Then they sent me over here and I was with the Canadians, what they called me wasnтАЩt nice, and then they left me behind when they retreated and I took up with some foreigners. They were nice too, though they were fighting against the English. Then they ran away, and the lorry I was in got stuck in the ditch, so I got in with some other foreigners who were on the same side as the English, and they were beasts, but I met an American doctor who had white hair, and he called me Emily because he said I reminded him of his daughter back home, so he took me to Paris and we had a lovely week till he took up with another girl in a night club, so he left me behind in Paris when he went back to the front, and I hadnтАЩt no money and they made a fuss about my passport, so they called me numero mille soixante dix huit, and they sent me and a lot of other girls off to the East to be with the soldiers there. At least they would have done only the ship got blown up, so I was rescued and the French sent me up here in a train with some different girls who were very unrefined. Then I was in a tin hut with the girls, and then yesterday they had friends and I was alone, so I went for a walk, and when I came back the hut was gone and the girls were gone, and there didnтАЩt seem anyone anywhere until you came in your car, and now I donтАЩt rightly know where I am. My, isnтАЩt war awful?тАЭ
The General opened another bottle of champagne.
тАЬWell, youтАЩre as right as rain now, little lady,тАЭ he said, тАЬso letтАЩs see you smile and look happy. You mustnтАЩt sit there scowling, you knowтБатАФfar too pretty a little mouth for that. Let me take off that heavy coat. Look, IтАЩll wrap it round your knees. There, now, isnтАЩt that better?тБатАКтБатАж Fine, strong little legs, eh?тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ
Adam did not embarrass them. The wine and the deep cushions and the accumulated fatigue of two daysтАЩ fighting drew him away from them and, oblivious to all the happy emotion pulsing near him, he sank into sleep.
The windows of the stranded motor car shone over the wasted expanse of the battlefield. Then the General pulled down the blinds, shutting out that sad scene.
тАЬCosier now, eh?тАЭ he said.
And Chastity in the prettiest way possible fingered the decorations on his uniform and asked him all about them.
And presently, like a circling typhoon, the sounds of battle began to return.