Page 372 - tender-is-the-night

your distinguished collaborator was a drunkard. The man
is a fanatic, and the descendant seems to have caught traces
of vin-du-pays on me.’
Franz sat down, musing on his lower lip. ‘You can tell me
at length,’ he said finally.
‘Why not now?’ Dick suggested. ‘You must know I’m the
last man to abuse liquor.’ His eyes and Franz’s glinted on
each other, pair on pair. ‘Ladislau let the man get so worked
up that I was on the defensive. It might have happened in
front of patients, and you can imagine how hard it could be
to defend yourself in a situation like that!’
Franz took off his gloves and coat. He went to the door
and told the secretary, ‘Don’t disturb us.’ Coming back into
the room he flung himself at the long table and fooled with
his mail, reasoning as little as is characteristic of people in
such postures, rather summoning up a suitable mask for
what he had to say.
‘Dick, I know well that you are a temperate, well-bal-
anced man, even though we do not entirely agree on the
subject of alcohol. But a time has come—Dick, I must say
frankly that I have been aware several times that you have
had a drink when it was not the moment to have one. There
is some reason. Why not try another leave of abstinence?’
‘Absence,’ Dick corrected him automatically. ‘It’s no so-
lution for me to go away.’
They were both chafed, Franz at having his return
marred and blurred.
‘Sometimes you don’t use your common sense, Dick.’
‘I never understood what common sense meant applied

372 Tender is the Night