Поющие в терновнике

           You’remyrose,themostbeautifulhumanimageandthoughtinmylife."

           Downwentthecornersofhermouthagain,upshonethattense,glitteringfiercenesswiththetangofhateinit."Animage,athought!Ahumanimageandthought!Yes,that’sright,that’sallIamtoyou!You’renothingbutaromantic,dreamingfool,RalphdeBricassart!YouhavenomoreideaofwhatlifeisallaboutthanthemothIcalledyou!Nowonderyoubecameapriest!Youcouldn’tlivewiththeordinarinessoflifeifyouwereanordinarymananymorethanordinarymanLukedoes!

           "Yousayyouloveme,butyouhavenoideawhatloveis;you’rejustmouthingwordsyou’vememorizedbecauseyouthinktheysoundgood!Whatfloorsmeiswhyyoumenhaven’tmanagedtodispensewithuswomenaltogether,whichiswhatyou’dliketodo,isn’tit?Youshouldworkoutawayofmarryingeachother;you’dbedivinelyhappy!"

           "Meggie,don’t!Pleasedon’t!"

           "Oh,goaway!Idon’twanttolookatyou!Andyou’veforgottenonethingaboutyourpreciousroses,Ralph—they’vegotnasty,hookythorns!"

           Helefttheroomwithoutlookingback.

           ***

           Lukeneverbotheredtoanswerthetelegraminforminghimhewastheproudfatherofafive-poundgirlnamedJustine.SlowlyMeggiegotbetter,andthebabybegantothrive.PerhapsifMeggiecouldhavemanagedtofeedhershemighthavedevelopedmorerapportwiththescrawny,bad-temperedlittlething,butshehadabsolutelynomilkintheplenteousbreastsLukehadsolovedtosuck.That’sanironicjustice,shethought.