День триффидов
Strategic Withdrawal
"Youknow,whatissurprisingmeisthatI’msuddenlyfeelingquitekindlytowardthetriffids.Withouttheirintervention,Isupposetherewouldhavebeenawholelotmoreofthiskindofthingbynow.Iftheyaretheonefactorthatcanstopserfdomcomingback,thengoodluckto‘em."
"Thewholething’sclearlypreposterous,"Isaid."Itdoesn’thaveachance.HowcouldJosellaandIlookafteracrowdlikethatandkeepthetriffidsout?But,"Iadded,"we’rescarcelyinapositiontogiveafiat‘No’toapropositionputupbyfourarmedmen."
"Thenyou’renot—"
"Darling,"Isaid,"doyoureallyseemeinthepositionofaseigneur,drivingmyserfsandvilleinsbeforemewithawhip—evenifthetriffidshaven’toverrunmefirst?"
"Butyousaid
"Listen,"Isaid."It’sgettingdark.Toolateforthemtoleavenow.They’llhavetostaythenight.IimaginethattomorrowtheideawillbetotakeSusanawaywiththem—she’dmakequiteagoodhostageforourbehavior,yousee.Andtheymightleaveoneortwooftheirmentokeepaneyeonus.Well,Idon’tthinkwe’retakingthat,arewe?"
"No,but—"
"Well,IhopeI’veconvincedhimnowthatI’mcomingroundtohisidea.Tonightwe’llhavethesortofsupperthatmightbetakentoimplyaccord.Makeitagoodone.Everybody’stoeatplenty.Givethekidsplentytoo.Layonourbestdrinks.SeethatTorrenceandhischapshaveplentyofthat.buttherestofusgoveryeasy.TowardtheendofthemealIshalldisappearforabit.
