День триффидов

           Shepattedhereyeswithherhandkerchiefandsniffeda

           little.

           "SoI’mtobeafarmer’swife.Anyway,Ilikebeingmarried

           toyou,Bill—evenifitisn’taveryproper,authentickindof

           marriage."

           SuddenlyshegavethesmilingchucklethatIhadnotheard

           forsometime.

           "Whatisit?"

           "IwasonlythinkinghowmuchIusedtodreadmywed-

           ding."

           ‘Thatwasverymaidenlyandproperofyou—ifalittleunexpected,"Itoldher.

           "Well,itwasn’texactlythat.Itwasmypublishers,andthe

           newspapers,andthefilmpeople.Whatfuntheywouldhave

           hadwithit.There’dhavebeenaneweditionofmysillybook

           —probablyanewreleaseofthefilm—andpicturesinallthe

           papers.Idon’tthinkyou’dhavelikedthatmuch."

           "IcanthinkofanotherthingI’dnothavelikedmuch,"Itoldher."Doyouremember—thatnightinthemoonlightyoumadeacondition?"

           Shelookedatme.

           "Well,maybesomethingshaven’tturnedoutsobadly,"shesaid,smiling.